Will the flu be more severe this year? In recent days, the Health Intelligence Division at the Ministry of Health has warned that, following an unusual and early outbreak of influenza in Japan, there may be an indication of an early and widespread flu season in Israel as well.
In light of this, it is noted that it is advisable to prepare for the possibility of earlier-than-expected illness this year, possibly within the coming weeks, and, according to them, for higher-than-average morbidity levels in Israel during the upcoming flu season.
Prof. Alon Hershko, Head of the Internal Medicine Department at Hadassah and an expert in Allergy and Immunology, said in light of the warnings: “Since the Earth is divided into north and south, during our summer it is already winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and therefore what happens there can predict what will happen here in winter. Winter is coming to an end in the Southern Hemisphere, influenza is a virus that constantly changes, and a specific vaccine is produced against it for the population. This winter will actually bring the flu earlier than expected.”
“Definitely not a mild virus”
“People think the flu is a mild virus, but without the vaccine there are deaths and also severe illness. The vaccine is especially important for people with weakened immune systems, heart conditions, bacterial pneumonia, diabetes, dialysis, kidney failure – all these diseases put the patient at higher risk for more severe illness when infected with influenza. The vaccine, in many cases, does not prevent infection, and therefore people think that if they got vaccinated and still got sick, the vaccine doesn’t work. Allow me to tell them that it’s fine – it prevents more severe illness,” explained Prof. Hershko.
“There are very serious complications from the flu, and we recommend getting vaccinated,” Hershko advised. “The virus is spreading. From what we can predict, the illness will be early and severe, and the vaccine is going to be effective and its efficacy is high. We recommend getting vaccinated according to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines, with high-risk populations first. The fact that there is currently low public response to vaccination is problematic, because as a result, the illness will be more severe – and it can be prevented. This is a very painful problem, and we are also experiencing it regarding the measles outbreak. It is a very serious virus, and the vaccine against it provides almost 100% protection. All the cases of death and intensive care could have been prevented. Therefore, I call and say: go get vaccinated.”