As with Beaujolais or Bordeaux, the flu vaccine has its vintage, and its marketing obeys the same rules. The vaccination campaign is launched this Friday and the product will be available in a few days in pharmacies.
This year’s contains two A strains (California and Hong Kong) and one B strain (Brisbane). While it is aimed primarily at people over 65, those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women, children over 6 years old and healthcare personnel, the vaccine is accessible to all. 2 to 8 million people are affected by the flu each year and 1,500 to 2,000 people die from it, the daily recalls. 20 minutes.
Figures that are not enough to put the French back on the path to vaccination. On the contrary ! Between 2008 and 2015, the vaccination rate increased from 64 to 51% among seniors.
Mistrust of the vaccine is growing, worry the public authorities. “Making believe that the vaccine is more dangerous than the flu is criminal, reacts, in the columns of the newspaper, Dr. Jean-Marie Cohen, doctor and epidemiologist, founder of a Network for the Observation of Diseases and Epidemics .
It must be said that the latest vintages have left a bitter taste. In 2014-2015, the flu epidemic claimed 18,300 lives, ten times more than in previous years. “The assessment of this epidemic wave showed that the excess mortality rate was largely due to people who should have been vaccinated and who were not…”, observes Dr. Cohen. For the epidemiologist, “the vaccine does not protect against the epidemic, but against mortality. What we are looking for is that fragile people do not die from the flu”.
Paradoxically, supports the College of Pharmacists, “vaccination is a victim of its own success. The more the pathologies disappear, the more the public wonders about the usefulness of vaccination”. It is useful for oneself and it also helps to protect others.
