By: Naomi Natan – Doctoral System
Every winter, the hospitals in the country prepare for a wave of hospitalization due to the flu – a contagious viral disease in which the degree of infection is very high and is caused by the spread of the virus during coughing, sneezing and also in contact with secretions. Last winter, probably due to the wearing of masks and the social distance in the Corona epidemic, the flu in Israel was hardly felt, no infection occurred and therefore the hospitals filled with Corona patients were orphaned by influenza patients. What’s going on this winter?
The predictions came true
Forecasts at the start of the winter season were pessimistic. Two studies have predicted that winter 2021-2022 may be particularly severe in terms of flu morbidity. Precisely because last season it did not exist at all, the body is more likely to develop a serious illness among risk groups. Studies have predicted that in the United States, morbidity is expected to be about 20% higher than the normal annual average at best, and at worst – double that.
In Israel, the National Center for Disease Control reported in September that a flu virus had been detected in seven hospitalized children, children and adults, and experts in the country said the severity of the flu outbreak could not be expected this winter. They were right.
Data from the Center for Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, which focuses on weekly monitoring of seasonal influenza morbidity in Israel, shows that since the beginning of this winter and currently, 1,088 influenza patients have been hospitalized, including 401 children and 70 pregnant women. Most patients contracted type A influenza identified in the Central Virus Laboratory as subtype A / H3 influenza, which is included in the vaccine vaccine given this year in Israel.
The horror scenario
The health care system fears that due to the easing of green label limitations and the complacency of the population due to coronary attenuation and vaccine protection, social distance will disappear completely just as a new and resistant corona vaccine strain enters and also the effect of merciless beating until hospitals withstand the load and collapse.
U.S. studies have predicted that in the winter of 2021-22 there will be about 600,000 hospitalizations as a result of U.S. flu complications, 100,000 more than usual, when combined with coronary heart disease this will pose a real threat to the U.S. health care system.
Experts in Israel and the United States believe that in order to avoid such a horrific scenario, vaccinations against influenza should be significantly increased, thus neutralizing the number of hospitalizations. In general, the Ministry of Health recommends getting vaccinated against influenza. Recovering, however, quite a few risk groups can develop subsequent complications, pneumonia, significant respiratory complications and even deprive them of life.
Who is at risk?
In contrast to the coronary epidemic, children and infants are at risk of developing a serious illness following influenza, largely because of their presence in kindergartens and educational settings where the chances of infection increase significantly. 20% –30% of the total population of children and about 50% of the children who are in educational settings are infected with the flu every year and some come to the emergency departments for children due to respiratory infections. Children with heart and breathing problems or neurological diseases are more likely to get the flu. However, most children hospitalized for the flu are infants under one year of age. Therefore, the recommendation of the Ministry of Health is to vaccinate infants over the age of six months against influenza.
Pregnant women are also at risk of becoming seriously ill with the flu and suffering from its complications and even transmitting the disease to the fetus. Here, too, the recommendation of the Ministry of Health is to vaccinate the mother, even during pregnancy and thus maintain the health of both mother and fetus. Infants whose mothers were vaccinated against influenza during pregnancy were found to be 63% less likely to develop morbidity later.
Even for adults over the age of 65 the flu can be dangerous due to the weakening of the immune system in their body. Many studies have found that the flu vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalization due to the flu or pneumonia by 27% and reduces the chance of mortality among these ages by 48%.
Chronic patients are much more successful today than in the past to live an almost normal life due to advanced technologies and medical developments. However, their condition combined with additional health risks may worsen. For those who have a chronic illness, a flu vaccine is also recommended, in order to prevent the complications of the flu and also its effect on the disease that accompanies the patient.
The Bottom Line: Influenza morbidity is evident this year in Israel, and the expectation is that if the populations at risk do not get flu vaccines, the number of patients hospitalized for influenza will increase. It is worth remembering that since the previous winter the immune system did not deal with the virus and immunity at the population level dropped greatly, the effect of the year can be particularly dangerous. So that these horror scenarios do not come true, just like in Corona – it is recommended to go and get vaccinated.
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