Two new strains of the virus expected in the coming season
Two new strains of influenza A – “Victoria” and “Cambodia” – are awaiting doctors in the upcoming epidemiological season 2021-2022. Rospotrebnadzor explained what these strains are, how much they should be feared and what rules must be followed when vaccinating against influenza in the context of a coronavirus pandemic.
Last week, medical and educational organizations of the capital, organizations of transport, utilities and the provision of services began to send orders from the district offices of Rospotrebnadzor with requirements to ensure vaccination against influenza for up to 75% of employees who have no contraindications for this. The heads of organizations should, according to the instructions, report on the vaccinated before November 1.
As reported to “MK” in Rospotrebnadzor, prescriptions come to all organizations listed in the National Vaccination Schedule. Also this season, according to the decree of the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation of July 21, 2021 No. 20 “On measures to prevent influenza and acute respiratory viral infections in the epidemic season 2021-2022”, workers of poultry farms and pig farms, employees of zoos will be obliged to get vaccinated against influenza , as well as persons who raise pets for “sale to the population”.
According to experts, it is important to vaccinate in Moscow and in other regions during September-October 2021 and complete 2-3 weeks before the start of the increase in the incidence. A doctor’s examination is required before vaccination.
Each season, virologists identify those influenza viruses that are most likely to threaten the population, and use vaccines containing the appropriate antigens.
– For the epidemic season 2021–2022 for the northern hemisphere, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised the inclusion of the following strains of influenza viruses in trivalent influenza vaccines: A / Victoria / 2570/2019 (H1N1) pdm09, A / Cambodia / e0826360 / 2020 ( H3N2), B / Washington / 02/2019, and for tetravalent add B / Phuket / 3073/2013 as well, Rospotrebnadzor told MK. – The two strains of the influenza A virus present in the recommended composition have not previously circulated in the Russian population.
On the one hand, a meeting with new strains instills some anxiety among those who have never been infected with them, but on the other hand, there is hope that we will again meet with the already familiar strains of influenza B. According to immunologist Nikolai Kryuchkov, about which strains can come to the Northern Hemisphere, experts guess every year by how the situation unfolded earlier in the Southern Hemisphere, where the flu epidemic runs from April to August. So, there in 2021, the new strains H1N1 and H3N2 did not show themselves too much.
In conditions when an influenza epidemic is expected against the background of the existing coronavirus pandemic, Rospotrebnadzor recalled that the interval between influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations should be 1 month. Otherwise, overlapping two vaccines can, at a minimum, put an overload on the immune system.
As of September 20, more than 7 million people have been vaccinated against influenza in Russia, which is 4.97% of the country’s population.
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