The difficult choice of the best flu vaccine

Influenza is an acute respiratory infection that is transmitted by influenza viruses.
The flu vaccine is designed to reduce the number of people who get sick. But not everything is so simple; viruses move very quickly around the planet and at the same time constantly change. Therefore, every year the disease is caused by new strains of influenza. The human immune system has to fight a strain to which antibodies have not yet been developed. Hence the large number of complications caused by influenza. Children are at higher risk of getting the disease than adults because they are not immune to many strains. In addition, almost all children go to school or kindergarten, and there the infection spreads very quickly. As soon as one child infected with the infection comes to school, the whole class will instantly fall ill, and then the whole school.

How did the vaccine come about?

The word "vaccine" comes from the Latin word for cow - "vacca". In the 18th century, Jenner infected a young boy with cowpox. So he wanted to protect him from smallpox. He succeeded, the boy did not get sick. But only after another century did Louis Pasteur give scientific substantiation to this experience. Vaccination is based on the characteristics of a person’s immunity. Any infection contains proteins, and our body perceives them as foreign antigens. After contact with the pathogen, special proteins are formed - antibodies. They bind to the antigen and remove it from the body. The immune system has memory, so upon subsequent contact with this infection, antibodies are produced much faster. The person will either not get sick or the disease will be mild.

How do you feel about mandatory vaccination?

• Positively, it prevents many diseases. 62%, 2171 votes
  2171 votes 62%

  2171 votes - 62% of all votes

  Read also:  Otrivin baby drops, instructions for use of the complex for infants
• Negatively, these are all government schemes to make it easier to manage us. 25%, 876 votes

  876 votes 25%

  876 votes - 25% of all votes

• Neutral, I don’t think it has any effect on my health. 13%, 468 votes

  468 votes 13%

  468 votes - 13% of all votes

Total votes: 3515

Voted: 3498

January 17, 2018

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Vaccination

Due to the fact that virus strains mutate every year, influenza vaccination should be carried out annually. Scientists are studying the epidemiological situation around the world and developing a vaccine against those strains that are expected to cause the disease. Vaccination against influenza is valid for a year, the protective effect is formed within three weeks. It is better to carry out this procedure in late summer or early autumn, so that the immune system is ready by the time of the epidemic. The flu vaccine is recommended for people who are prone to complications during the course of the disease: the elderly, children, people with chronic diseases, as well as those caring for children. Babies under six months old cannot be vaccinated, so all family members, immediate surroundings, and nannies are vaccinated. There are some contraindications:

• intolerance to chicken protein, or individual components of the vaccine;
• children under 6 months;
• acute or chronic diseases during the period of exacerbation, it is recommended to wait about a month after the condition improves;
• a complication after vaccination was previously observed.

Vaccination methods:

• Nasal, in which the drug is administered through the nasal passage. Currently, this method is used less and less, as local immunity develops, and the defense reaction is weak;
• Injection is the most common method; intramuscular or subcutaneous injection is performed.

Possible complications are divided into two groups:

1. Local – occur in the injection area (redness, inflammation, slight pain). If the vaccine was administered nasally - runny nose, sore throat, cough;
2. Systemic is the reaction of the whole body to the vaccine (allergies, headache, chills, fever, otitis media, weakness).

Timing for vaccination

Different flu vaccinations are required in different months. The instructions for the vaccine usually say when, after its use, immunity will start in the human body.

The purpose of vaccination is to develop antibodies in the body, which, when confronted with real viruses, will begin to actively fight them.

It has been noticed that people who are vaccinated against influenza on time subsequently tolerate the disease better and do not have complications.

How long does the effect of vaccination last? This again depends on which vaccine you are given. Most often, the vaccine lasts 6 months. There have been cases where the effect of the vaccine lasted from 9 months to one year.

Types of Vaccines

For prevention, two large groups of vaccines are used:

• live - these vaccines contain non-infectious and weakened viruses;
• inactivated - the composition does not contain live viruses.

The last group is in turn subdivided into three more groups:

1. whole cell – the vaccine consists of whole viral cells;
2. split vaccines (split) – the virus cells are split, the composition contains both internal molecules (antigens) and surface ones. The highly purified vaccine does not contain chicken proteins or viral lipids;
3. subunit vaccines - they contain proteins on the surface of the virus. An example is the Grippol vaccine, Influvac vaccine.

Live and whole cell vaccines can cause complications and reactions after vaccination, especially in children. But it is worth noting that good anti-influenza immunity is formed. Subunit and split vaccines are less reactive and cause fewer complications. Since good immunity also develops, these groups are used everywhere and are considered the best. Which is the best flu vaccine? Preference should be given to the split vaccine, since there are more advantages, and practically no complications were observed. Everyone decides whether to get a flu vaccine on their own, after weighing all the pros and cons.

Brief overview of essential medications

Each drug used during the flu vaccination season contains certain types of virus strains - A and B. Both imported and domestic drugs do not contain live components. They contain only antigens that actively stimulate increased immunity. Among the most effective medications to protect against influenza, the following vaccinations are recommended:

• Influvac - subunit, produced in the Netherlands;
• Grippol is a Russian-made subunit drug;
• Vaxigrip is a split vaccine produced by France;
• Begrivak is a split vaccine produced in Germany;
• Fluarix - a split product produced in Belgium;
• Agrippal - subunit vaccination is produced in Italy.

For you: Vaccination of children under one year of age: how many vaccinations a baby should receive
Doctors say that vaccination cannot cause infection with a severe disease. When visiting a clinic for vaccination, you can choose any type of vaccine. Serums of both imported and domestic production form a high level of immune protection. If the question arises of choosing between an imported or domestic version of the flu vaccine, some doctors advise (if possible) to choose imported vaccines with a sufficient number of antigens.

During the 2017-2018 epidemic season, doctors do not recommend using nasal spray (live allantoic vaccines). Such a vaccination will be ineffective during the coming epidemic.

Imported vaccines

Parents were concerned about two imported vaccinations - Influvac and Vaxigrip. The medicines contain up to 15 mcg of fragments of three influenza strains, are free from antibiotics, preservatives and mercury. A single dose for adults and children over three years of age is 0.5 ml, for six-month-old babies - 0.25 ml.

• Influvac. Immunization with an imported drug is carried out once a year for people who do not have exacerbations of chronic diseases, severe catarrhal symptoms and allergies. Pregnant women are vaccinated under the supervision of a doctor.
• Vaxigrip. The split vaccine is safe because it does not contain viral toxins, and the composition itself is adjusted annually under the supervision of WHO. Immunization of children against influenza can be combined with other vaccinations.

It should be noted that both vaccines are identical - they have a similar composition and release form, there is no difference in indications for use. The only difference is that Influvac has a large list of side effects and also has a higher cost than the Vaxigrip vaccine.

Domestic drugs

Domestic vaccines are vaccinated free of charge in clinics. The Grippol (Grippol Plus) and Sovigripp vaccinations contain fewer strain structures, but the effect of the medicine is enhanced by the addition of immunomodulators:

• Grippol contains the adjuvant Polyoxidonium;
• Sovigripp is strengthened with the Sovidon component. Read more about the drug here.

The Grippol Plus vaccination is an improved analogue of the Grippol vaccine. Anti-influenza serum, produced in an individual syringe, is intended for vaccinations in the adult population. The drug Sovigripp is used for mass immunization of children.

To vaccinate adults, as well as children, with domestic medicines, only the patient’s desire is enough. Flu vaccination with imported vaccines is given in accordance with medical indications.

If you cannot pay for a more expensive imported vaccination, you should turn to the free vaccination option. After all, pharmaceutical companies are constantly improving the quality of the drugs they develop. Even if the influenza pathogen is erroneously identified due to viral drift, vaccination with an imported or domestic vaccine will stimulate the immune system, capable of resisting any foreign agent in the body.

Flu shot: pros and cons

Pros against

Despite universal vaccination, some experts do not agree with this state of affairs. There are cases when routine vaccination helps to reduce the body’s own immunity, as a result of which a person gets sick throughout the autumn-winter period. Some vaccinated people develop complications, such as neuralgia, allergies, eye and hearing problems. Opponents of vaccination believe that it does not provide the desired effect. In addition, a vaccine is a biological material, the quality of which depends on many conditions, such as storage and manufacturing quality. It is impossible to predict the body's reaction to the injected virus; it is likely that immunity will be weaker than before vaccination. It may be better to avoid the flu shot.

Arguments for

Doctors believe that flu vaccination is necessary for those citizens for whom the flu can cause complications. It is known that virus strains are constantly changing; it is not always possible to predict which virus will be active this season. However, experts are confident that even if they guessed wrong with the strain, the vaccine will still protect. If a person gets sick, he will survive the disease easily without complications. Usually at work or school everyone is forced to get vaccinated. However, this is not at all necessary; you can write a refusal to get a flu shot.

Why is vaccination needed?

Pharmacies offer modern people a huge assortment of a wide variety of medications for flu and colds. Why get vaccinated if there are so many cures for the disease?

To answer this question, let’s remember what we know about the influenza virus:

1. Influenza is spread through the air, often simply by talking to an infected person.
2. The period from infection to illness itself is only one day.
3. The proteins of dangerous microorganisms are very variable; there are different strains of the virus that cause repeated waves of the disease.
4. Once the virus enters the respiratory tract, its population quickly begins to grow exponentially.
5. The best time to get vaccinated is October and September.
6. Sometimes the flu causes complications such as kidney disease, pneumonia, brain disease and even death.
7. At a late stage of the disease, treatment is ineffective.

Vaccination calendar

The national vaccination calendar undergoes changes every year, and this happened in 2020. The Ministry of Health predicts an increase in the number of dangerous infections in 2020, and additions have been made to take this into account. On the Internet you can look at what strains of viruses the vaccines have produced. The composition for 2014/2015 is already known. The following vaccines were introduced in 2014–2020: Influvac and Vaxigrip. Doctors suggest that in 2020, three strains of the virus will prevail, among them swine flu. Vaccination will help you survive the cold season without complications.