Health and Medicine Media

The vaccine protects effectively and, is safe, inactivated virus is similar to others with whom we have long experience. So now we can recommend its administration, but only some children, not all.

The decision whether to apply a medicine must be based on risk-benefit principle, or what is the same, that the protective effect outweighs the risk or side effects of the drug, in this case of the vaccine. Although this vaccine is safe and well tolerated, influenza A is too, because previously healthy children outweigh the illness usually within days and with few symptoms that are usually well tolerated well as fever, cough, runny nose, depression, some have headache , muscle pain, abdominal or throat.

The vaccine may also cause fever, muscle pain (more on the point of injection) and symptoms similar to influenza. Therefore, the irrigation-benefit ratio does not justify the application of the vaccine to healthy children, but those at risk for complicated influenza.

Who to vaccinate?

As the main and most serious complication of this new flu is pneumonia, which is lung infection, and this needs to be cured of an effective cough, which allows the cleaning of pulmonary secretions, children unable to cough or limited hard, obviously have greater risk of pneumonia.

These are those with a neurological disease or chronic muscle such as cerebral palsy, psychomotor retardation and muscular hypotonia, including children with Down syndrome, especially in those with congenital heart disease or severe muscular hypotonia and large obese, not chubby.

Be vaccinated also those unable to adequately fight against infection, either because they suffer from congenital deficiency of immunity, or because they receive treatment that impedes or impairs the immunity, such as chronic treatment with corticosteroids or chemotherapy. Thus, children with leukemia or other cancers, chronic diseases of the blood and immune deficiency should be vaccinated against influenza A.

It is advisable to vaccinate children with chronic lung diseases, eg severe asthma or cystic fibrosis, heart (congenital heart disease), renal or metabolic diseases (diabetes mellitus) because influenza A/H1N1 may destabilize and complicate these chronic diseases.

Obviously, the opinion of the doctor or physician of each of these patients is key to deciding whether or not the indication of the vaccine, because each patient is different. It is said that there are no diseases but sick, two children with the same problem may behave differently when fight or endure their illness.