The Ministry of Health updated yesterday (Wednesday) that in the last week there has been a slight decrease in the incidence of influenza. About 60% of those confirmed to have the flu who were hospitalized in the last week were in wards that treat adults, 32% were hospitalized in children’s wards and 2.5% were pregnant and giving birth women. The data also revealed that 17.7% of all health fund insureds have been vaccinated against the flu so far, and 58.2% of those aged 65 and over have been vaccinated against the virus.
From the beginning of October 2022 until Saturday (January 29, 2023), 4,249 hospitalized patients with laboratory confirmation of influenza were reported to the National Center for Disease Control, of which 406 were hospitalized in the last week. In the last week, 59% of those confirmed to have the flu were hospitalized in wards that treat adults, 32% were hospitalized in children’s wards and 2.5% were pregnant and giving birth women.
The Ministry of Health issued a call to the public to get vaccinated against the flu, especially for boys and girls 65 and older and for people in risk groups. According to the ministry, the influenza virus can cause serious illness, such as pneumonia, other respiratory complications, inflammation of the heart muscle and even death.
A statement from the ministry reads: “The vaccine reduces the risk of complications such as pneumonia, hospitalizations and mortality. It is recommended to be vaccinated every year as the disease changes and every year a new virus appears, slightly different from the one in the previous year. The vaccine this year (and every year) is produced based on a forecast of The World Health Organization, which determines which strains are expected that year.”
They also emphasized that “most of the influenza viruses identified so far in Israel belong to type A, and a minority to type B. In the central laboratory for viruses, two subtypes were identified among patients with influenza type A: subtype A/H1, and subtype A/H3, when The A/H1 subtype appears to be dominant. The composition of the influenza vaccine given in Israel includes these two subtypes of influenza A, and two lineages of influenza B.”
In conclusion, we noted: “It is important to get vaccinated even if the strains included in this year’s vaccine are the same as those in the previous year’s vaccine. The level of antibodies against the component strains begins to fade about six months after vaccination, with some variation according to vaccine and age group. In all the groups tested, one year later, the level of antibodies is not provides maximum protection”.