Paris (AFP)
New communication "offensive" possibility to make the vaccine in pharmacy ... The government officially launched Monday the flu vaccination campaign with a goal: increase the rate of protection of at-risk populations, which often underestimate the gravity of the disease.
"This year again the flu is going to hurt," proclaims the slogan of the new advertising campaign intended to "hit the spirits", unveiled by the Ministry of Health, Health Insurance and Public Health France, appearing a "pernicious personage" "in combination bristling with quills to personify the" nasty "virus.
"High fever, headaches, intense fatigue, muscle aches, the film reminds how disabling the disease can be and how, in the face of this scourge, vaccination is the first of the protections," say the health authorities.
Each year, the flu affects 2 to 6 million people, leads to tens of thousands of emergency room visits and is an average of 10,000 deaths.
The vaccination campaign, which began on October 15, is aimed primarily at people "fragile" with the virus: people over 65, people with a chronic illness (diabetes, heart or respiratory failure ...) or severe obesity and pregnant women.
All eligible adults, including those who are vaccinated for the first time, may withdraw the vaccine at the pharmacy "upon presentation of their health insurance voucher" and be vaccinated at the choice of a doctor , a nurse, a midwife and, novelty 2019, a pharmacist all over France.
- Two-thirds of the vaccinated doctors -
After the experiment conducted last year in four test regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, New Aquitaine, Occitanie), the possibility of being vaccinated in pharmacy has indeed been generalized.
As for nurses, their role has expanded since last year, with the possibility of vaccinating without a prescription all people who have received a Social Security voucher, including pregnant women and those who are being vaccinated for the first time.
The stated goal is to increase immunization coverage, "insufficient with less than one fragile person out of two vaccinated (46.8%)".
This figure has been declining in recent years (it was still 58.7% in 2008), despite a slight increase of 1.2 points last year.
Public authorities also insist on insufficient vaccination of health professionals, yet "essential to prevent the transmission of the disease".
According to a study published Monday in 167 health facilities, doctors are pretty good students, with two-thirds (68%) vaccinated against the flu last year, a proportion that is up 13 points from the previous year. ten years. This rate falls to half for midwives (+27 points in 10 years), one-third for nurses (36%, +12 points) and less than a quarter (21%, +2) points) for caregivers.
Last winter, the seasonal flu resulted in a mortality lower than the average of the previous years, with 8,100 deaths estimated, according to a new updated report of Public Health France.
"This figure is lower than the estimated average of 10,000 deaths per year over the period 2010-2018, but remains important given the short duration of the epidemic", only two months in metropolitan France, said the health agency in April, when it publishes its provisional balance sheet.
© 2019 AFP