After two atypical flu seasons,
\ndue to restrictions imposed during the pandemic, Romania has this year seen an
\naggressive flu season when a few severe respiratory diseases have been reported
\nmainly among children and vulnerable people.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The peak of the flu
\nseason was reached in the first part of this month and according to the
\nNational Institute of Public Health (INSP) the number of respiratory diseases
\nis presently on a downward trend. 103 thousand infections were reported last
\nweek, which means only a quarter than in the previous one. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As compared to the
\nweekly average of illnesses registered between 2015 – 2020, the number is still
\nhigh, 21% higher. According to the INSP, out of the total number of infections,
\nroughly five thousand were flu cases, most of them in Bucharest, Iasi, in
\neastern Romania, Cluj, in the north-west and Timis in the west of the country. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Statistics data show
\nthat since the beginning of the season, 36 people have lost their lives and
\nroughly 1.5 million have got the anti-flu vaccine. Doctors say though the number
\nis not enough and in order to be able to control an epidemic, 3.5 million
\nvulnerable people should have got the jab. In order to support the population,
\nauthorities pledge that next year they will subsidize both the anti-flu vaccines
\nand those lasting a lifetime mainly for people suffering from chronic diseases.
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
During a conference in
\nBucharest, Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, has voiced hope that he will see
\na different approach in terms of anti-flu vaccination next year, which may lead
\nto the protection of a larger number of people. Until then, he says, the
\nanti-flu vaccines, the Health Ministry purchased for this season, have been
\nalmost entirely used<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alexandru Rafila: Pharmacies still
\nhave stocks of anti-flu vaccines. Of course this very much depends on the
\nproducers and suppliers. We have practically used up the entire quantity
\npurchased by the Health Ministry. There are still small stocks at some family
\nphysicians but, practically the almost 1.5 million doses have been used.
\nVaccines are still available but not for a long time, you know, two or three
\nmore weeks. We will probably see a downward trend and get over this flu season,
\nwhich, as compared to the previous years, kicked off much earlier this year. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, the president
\nof the Health Commission with the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, Nelu
\nT\u0103taru, believes vaccine subsidies aren’t enough and the population must accept
\nthe prevention method. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Nelu T\u0103taru: When it comes to
\nvaccination I believe that subsidizing it is only a component. To convince
\npeople to accept the vaccination is the most important thing and I believe here
\nthe Ministry of Health and the physicians have a pretty difficult task: to
\nkickstart the process of convincing the people about the role vaccination has.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At the same time, authorities
\nbelieve that more emphasis should be laid on the development of pre-hospital
\nmedical care as people’s access to medical services should be eased. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The number of respiratory infections is going down in Romania although it is still higher than in the previous years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":93285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[40778,40706,35910,37344,35431,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-94366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-diseases","tag-illness","tag-rafila","tag-respiratory","tag-tataru","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n