Time to get protection against flu strains, Influenza A virus

Islamabad:Health care providers, children under five, pregnant women, elderly and those having co-morbid conditions including heart or kidney disease or those who are immuno-compromised including patients suffering from diabetes are most at risk of contracting seasonal ‘influenza A’ disease that appears as a great health threat every year in winter in this region of the country.

Epidemiologists and health experts urge the community, particularly the high risk population to get vaccinated against influenza A disease. Experts say that it is the need of the time to create awareness among the public that prevention from influenza A virus is the best option and people at high risk must opt for getting themselves vaccinated against the infection since the vaccine is available in the market.

It is important that the vaccine available in the market against influenza A is developed from the strains of viruses circulating in the world and every year, the new vaccine comes into market in October. Experts say that prevention from influenza A is important as it may hit the population severely in the coming days.

Studies reveal that the vaccine gives protection for one year against seasonal flu. The disease season starts in winter and after taking the shape of epidemic, it causes considerable morbidity and mortality in the months of December and January. Seasonal flu is the same disease that affected thousands of people globally and was named as Influenza A H1 N1 2009 infection.