Hello everyone, I am Kong Lingkai, a pediatrician. I am an attending pediatrician and a father.
Although this year’s flu is not as severe as last year’s, it is not much worse. So far, is vaccination still effective? Is it better to vaccinate trivalent or tetravalent? Can egg allergy be vaccinated?
Well, today’s article will talk about flu vaccine.
It’s almost February, do you still need to be vaccinated against influenza?
If necessary, vaccination is recommended.
Because the whole country is still in the peak season of influenza epidemic, look at the following picture. No matter in the north or south, influenza-like cases are on the rise. The red one in the picture is the trend in recent years.
And according to the data in recent years, the flu did not drop to a relatively low level until the 11th to 12th weeks, which is equivalent to the end of March. Therefore, vaccination now, even if it does not take effect until one month at the latest, can protect children throughout March and is very worthy of vaccination.
Is it better to vaccinate with trivalent vaccine or tetravalent vaccine?
This year, there are 4-valent and 3-valent influenza vaccines on the market in our country. Among them, 3-valent vaccines include H1N1, H3N2 and Victoria. In addition to the above, 4-valent vaccines have also added a Yamagata strain of B, which is the strain that was pandemic in our country from the end of 2017 to March 2018.
Therefore, compared with the 3-valent vaccine, the 4-valent vaccine has more comprehensive protection for the vaccinator. If the child can be vaccinated with the 4-valent vaccine, the 4-valent vaccine is the first choice.
You may ask, we don’t have 4 prices here now, only 3 prices, do I have to wait before vaccination?
No matter whether it is the Chinese CDC or the U.S. CDC, it is recommended to vaccinate whichever vaccine there is. Don’t delay the vaccination of the trivalent vaccine in order to wait for the trivalent vaccine. The reason why there is no first four-valent vaccine is to make everyone vaccinate as soon as possible and produce protection as soon as possible.
Therefore, at present, vaccinate whichever can be found, don’t wait.
In addition, this year’s flu in our country is definitely dominated by H1N1 flu, and the data of the second week of 2019 show that more than 99% is H1N1 flu. Therefore, there is absolutely no problem in vaccination with trivalent vaccine. Let’s not struggle with that imperfection again, and vaccinate as soon as possible.
Can egg allergy be vaccinated?
Parents ask this question much older, or they are afraid of vaccination and their children will have allergic reactions. Either they are afraid that they will not be vaccinated and the child will suffer from flu again.
In fact, there is no need to worry about this problem this year, because our country’s < < China Influenza Vaccination Technical Guidelines (2018-2019) > > clearly states that influenza vaccines can be safely given to people with a history of egg allergy. Please look at the figure below.
You may say, but it is written in the vaccine instructions that egg allergy cannot be vaccinated, no matter whether it is 3-valent or 4-valent. One said yes, the other said no, who should I listen to?
This contradiction < < Guidelines > > also noticed that among the contraindications to influenza vaccines, it not only did not say that egg allergy was a contraindication, but also highlighted the pharmacopoeia on which the vaccine instructions were based, and did not list egg allergy as a contraindication to influenza vaccination.
To sum up, the national guidelines all clearly guarantee that children with egg allergy can be vaccinated, so let’s rest assured that children with egg allergy can be vaccinated against influenza.
My child is a typical egg allergy and has been vaccinated against influenza. There is no problem at all.