Influenza: this year intense for children

Giuseppe Di Mauro, president of Sipps (Italian Society of Preventive and Social Pediatrics) to present the situation in the pediatric age, declares:

We are almost reaching the peak which we estimate will be in December and we still have several weeks to vaccinate and prevent. My invitation is to provide. Typically, the flu peak occurs between late December and early January, but it all seems a bit early this year in terms of intensity. And let’s not forget that for 2 years the cumbersome presence of Covid and the masks wiped out all the other viruses and even the flu ones a bit. This year, however, the flu is a little more aggressive. Masks, which have protected a lot, are used today in clinics and in healthcare situations, but not in schools, restaurants, supermarkets or cinemas. Obviously I don’t think we have to go back to using them, especially the children. But I say: let’s get vaccinated. Primary prevention teaches us that allpreventable diseases must be prevented. We need to take some time to explain and inform parents about the presence of these important defense weapons. 

The important thing is to get vaccinated, for some years a very effective nasal spray flu vaccine has been used for children aged 2 and over . An easy way of administration to create a shield against an important virus. Vaccination is recommended from 6 months to 6 years also for children with asthma and pathologies, but also for healthy ones. The virus is transmitted “air to air” and transmissibility is easy at school or in nursery schools. Then it is dangerous to take to the grandparents at home who stay with the grandchildren. The virus is the main carrier of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants and young children, on the other hand it is also “transversal to all pediatric age groups”.

• Influenza, Sipps pediatricians: “Studies full, this year the seasonal virus hits hard” (rainews.it)