The campaign against the flu of the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) provides the vaccine to children who are in a situation of risk, which are those minors who suffer from chronic pathologies (diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc.). The official campaign in the health centers also includes children who live with a chronic patient or with an elderly person .
“It is very important to remind parents that children, who suffer from chronic diseases,they can access the flu vaccine at their health center. The vaccination coverage of these minors is usually low and for this reason it is very important to stress that they can access the vaccine in the Primary Care consultation”, explains Rosario Caceres , vaccine coordinator of the Andalusian Council of Official Colleges of Pharmacists and member of the Spanish Association of Vaccinology
The target population for influenza vaccination at the SAS also includes pregnant women and women who have had a baby in less than six months.By vaccinating pregnant women, they and their future children are protected; while the vaccine for women who have seen their baby born in less than six months is designed to immunize newborns .
The rest of the healthy children , from the age of six months, can access the flu vaccine through pharmacies or private health clinics .

How to acquire the flu vaccine

“To acquire the flu vaccine in pharmacies , a medical prescription is necessary in any case. The prescription must also state which vaccine each patient will receive, so it is the pediatrician who chooses the specific vaccine, and not the pharmacy”, explains Rosario Caceres.
The vaccine expert recalls that the first step for families is in the Pediatric consultation . “First to verify that the child is not within the population expected to receive the financed vaccine ; and secondly, to ask the pediatrician for the prescription of the vaccine to acquire it in the pharmacy in case it is not financed”, adds Caceres.

How many flu vaccines for pediatric use are available
There

are six flu vaccines for pediatric use available; and one of them is intranasal, that is, it is administered without punctures. The intranasal vaccine, like one of the injectable (cellular) vaccines, contains live attenuated viruses, so they are not indicated for children with a weakened immune system. “In any case , it is the pediatrician who has to select the vaccine for each patient,” recalls Rosario Caceres.
Five pediatric influenza vaccines are quadrivalent ; that is, they protect against four strains of the influenza virus (two strains of virus A and two strains of virus B). The intranasal vaccine is only accessible in Andalusia in private health clinics.

How much does the flu vaccine cost

The prices of flu vaccines are, in most brands, around 10 and 15 euros.One of the vaccines on the pharmaceutical market, the cellular one, (the laboratory does not use eggs for its production) requires a somewhat higher outlay, of about 25 euros .

Children receiving influenza vaccine for the first time must receive two doses, spaced four weeks apart. Children who have previously received this vaccine only need one dose.

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