Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Reduces Influenza Serious Complications

This comes in line with HAAD efforts to protect all the community against infectious diseases and prevent the spread in the Emirate. HAAD stressed on the importance of the seasonal influenza vaccination as an effective method of preventing influenza virus infection and its potential serious complications.

While everyone should get the flu vaccine each flu season, it is especially important to give the priority to certain people who are at greater risk for serious complications if they get the flu. This includes elderly people with chronic diseases, children less than 5 years and especially under the age of 2, pregnant women, people with certain health conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease) and health workers, especially those working in emergency departments, outpatient, clinics, primary healthcare centers and those in intensive care units.

Dr. Farida Al Hosani, Director of the Communicable Diseases Department at HAAD, said: “Based on our belief that prevention is better than cure, we consider initiatives that are designed to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and raise the awareness of certain infectious diseases a top priority. HAAD is intensifying its efforts to raise awareness on the seasonal influenza vaccination as an important method of preventing influenza virus infection and its potential serious complications.”

Dr. Al Hosani added: “HAAD is advising all the locals and residents to take the seasonal influenza vaccination before the flu season when most of the seasonal flu activity peaks, mentioning that the seasonal influenza vaccination contributes to the protection of influenza virus and reduction for its complications up to one year.”

According to HAAD Immunization Information System, 42,404 have benefited from the flu vaccine from January to August 2016, while 65,535 have benefited from the flu vaccine in 2015.

For more information about the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination, please visit: www.haad.ae/haad/tabid/1008/Default.aspx

Those efforts come as part of its vaccination awareness campaign under the theme “Vaccination is Essential.” The campaign is launched to emphasize the importance of vaccination to prevent diseases in the community, promotes the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages, increases public awareness of the latest vaccination programs and new vaccines introduced by HAAD, and enhances the healthcare professionals’ role to be a vaccine advocate.