A few days ago, we learned that the Italian health authorities had withdrawn two batches of the Fluad influenza vaccine, after registering 3 suspicious deaths, following vaccination of the elderly. But according to the latest bulletin published in Italy, the number of suspicious deaths now stands at 19 and the Italian Medicines Safety Agency announces the seizure of other batches of vaccines while the investigation continues.
In an attempt to deal with skepticism about the value of getting vaccinated against the flu, European health ministers are closing ranks at the start of the week and launching a joint call: “Do not be afraid of the vaccine” affirm -they.
Vaccination “is of fundamental importance” for public health, “we cannot lower our guard” in the face of the mistrust which is developing in Europe “on unscientific bases” in the face of this prevention tool, underlined Beatrice Lorenzin , Italian Minister of Health. The Ebola epidemic in Africa “should remind everyone of the importance of the fight against pathogens,” she insisted.
For his part, the European Commissioner for Health, Vytenis Andriukaitis, insisted on the fact that “the current tendency of skepticism vis-à-vis vaccines risks bringing back epidemics of polio, rubella and tuberculosis to Europe”.
Faced with “the growing number of refusals of vaccination in certain Member States”, European health ministers recalled that the protection offered by vaccines has a collective dimension. “The general vaccination campaigns have made it possible to interrupt the circulation of pathogens thanks to the phenomenon of group immunity, which could therefore be considered as an objective of national vaccination plans”, they point out.
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