The state must allocate significantly more funding for vaccinating high-risk groups against influenza, Ainis Dzalbs, Vice President of the Latvian Association of Rural Family Physicians and a family doctor, said in an interview on Latvian Television’s Rīta panorāma programme.
He explained that Latvia has around 400,000 residents aged over 60, while the total number of flu vaccines procured by the state amounts to only about 120,000 to 130,000 doses. “If we wanted to vaccinate the highest-risk group alone, we clearly would not have enough doses,” Dzalbs said.
Survey results show that family physicians would have liked to receive more flu vaccines. Approximately 53% of surveyed family doctors said their practices would optimally need an additional 30–50 vaccine doses.
According to Dzalbs, this has been a long-standing issue, and family doctors have repeatedly tried to convince the institutions responsible for vaccination policy and procurement of the need to address it.
The family doctor stressed that politicians and officials must once again be urged to do everything possible to ensure that people in risk groups receive flu vaccinations in a timely manner, as the benefits for patients are substantial.
Dzalbs also noted that
this year the spread of influenza began unusually early, and flu patients have now become part of his daily routine
in family practice, with the virus spreading very widely. He suggested that the high infection rate is likely due to mutations that have accumulated over time, making the virus less easily recognised by the immune system and leaving people more susceptible.
According to his observations, influenza is currently widespread in closed settings such as kindergartens and schools, but in the coming days and weeks it is likely to spread more broadly among the adult population as well.
The family doctor reminded the public that influenza is a very serious respiratory illness and a major strain on the body. Patients with chronic conditions — particularly heart and lung diseases — are affected most severely. Around one quarter of elderly patients who contract influenza do not return to their previous level of functioning, Dzalbs said.
As reported, amid a rapid increase in flu cases, the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control declared a flu epidemic in Latvia on the 9th of December.
Read also: Rapid increase in influenza cases in Latvia: vaccines nearly depleted