2 deaths from flu

TWO people have died from the flu virus in this country this year. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh confirmed this yesterday at the launch of the 2019 Influenza Vaccination Drive at the Health Ministry in Port of Spain. There were eight deaths because of the virus between 2015-2016. In 2017 there were 4,614 suspected cases and 3,880 this year so far.

Deyalsingh said because of the success of free access to the flu vaccine at health institutions, people were more laid back about getting vaccinated. "We are now suffering from our success through free access, because no one is dying again. The population goes into a state of apathy. They are now lulled into a state of drowsiness. It's no longer a factor, nobody is dying due to influenza.

"That is why every flu season we lay the charge in telling people that the influenza vaccination is unlike yellow fever or polio vaccinations, where you get it once and you are vaccinated for life, you have immunity for life. The flu vaccination is totally different. It is a yearly vaccination, because the virus changes or mutates from year to year, as opposed to the polio virus, which stays the same."

He said it was possible to vaccinate everyone and still get deaths from the influenza virus. "I am not going to stand here and say, 'If you get vaccinated against the influenza virus you will not get influenza and die.' It is possible.

"The vaccine we are receiving now is based upon the best estimation of the scientists as to what the influenza virus will look like and (they) formulate a vaccination based on assumption or guesswork. It may be that this vaccine may not be an exact match in any particular year for the current influenza virus circulating."

Influenza is a much more severe disease than the common cold and is often difficult to identify. It is accompanied by more fever, headaches, sneezing, muscle aches and vomiting than the common cold. There can be exacerbation in people with existing chronic diseases such as sinus infections, pneumonia, hospitalisation and also the risk of death. The vaccine does not protect people from the common cold.

There were 80,000 deaths in the US last year because it was found the vaccine was only 36 per cent effective.

Deyalsingh said this year the authorities have taken a policy decision not to turn anyone away. In previous years the policy was to vaccinate those in high-risk groups, which included people over 65, children under five, pregnant women in their second and third trimesters and those with chronic diseases. This year all citizens will be vaccinated and not turned away from health centres.

One of the factors that led to this decision was the recent flooding, since in the aftermath people were exposed to dust and water.

"If you are already immuno-compromised and live in an area like Greenvale, we will vaccinate everybody. That would introduce herd immunity, where sufficient people in a population will be vaccinated, which would make the spread of the virus from one person to another much more difficult."

Deyalsingh said people can be vaccinated twice a year because of the way the flu season ran, from October to May. He said there were changes in the strains of the virus, so if the vaccine was taken at the beginning of the year, it should be taken again closer to the end of the year.