Pretorians urged to get flu vaccine ahead of ‘severe’ flu season
Flu kills between 6 000 and 11 000 people a year, says the institute.
Pretoria residents were urged to get flu vaccines ahead of the coming flu season, which is expected to be ”severe”.
The best time to get a flu vaccine is before the season starts (between March and June), the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The institute also revealed that flu kills between 6 000 and 11 000 South Africans a year.
While getting the shot later would still help protect individuals during the rest of the season, it advised people to get the vaccine early.
“As influenza viruses are constantly changing and immunity from the vaccine lasts for about a year, it is necessary to get vaccinated each year.”
The flu season is expected to start in the coming weeks.
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The NICD said a severe flu season was experienced in the northern part of the globe during the 2017/18 flu season.
“The severity of a season is due to a combination of factors, including the circulating influenza strains, previous immunity in the population and spectrum of underlying illnesses and age distribution of the population.
“Vaccinating people with higher risk of severe flu directly protects them from flu infections.”
The institute said vaccinating pregnant women has also shown to provide protection to both mother and baby during the flu season.
The flu vaccine for the 2018 season is currently available at public health facilities and at pharmacies.
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