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General practice Terapia 2020, 9 ( 392 ) :  6  -  9

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate against influenza during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?

Summary: WHO is sounding the alarm that we must not forget about influenza, not only in terms of GISRS, but also vaccination, and we cannot only deal with SARS-CoV-2. This applies not just to Poland, but also to the whole world, as shown in the reports available on the GISRS and ECDC websites. In the current epidemiological situation in Poland, we should increase the percentage of the vaccinated population not only in high-risk groups, regardless of age, but also healthcare workers. The percentage of the vaccinated population in Poland is scandalously low, placing the country ahead of the last place in Europe. According to NIPH-PZH data, the share of vaccinated children in the age range from 6 months to 14 years of age is less than 1 percent of this population. Children are the main carriers of flu infections. The last flu pandemic of the 20th century occurred in 1968-1969. We must be aware that influenza virus infections occur every season of the flu epidemic. Rich countries and international agencies should realize that it is also in their interest to strengthen international influenza surveillance in terms of pandemic preparedness, as influenza does not respect national borders and, as Dr. Nancy Arden of the CDC in Atlanta, USA, said: “There is a possibility that once the virus infects a per-son, it will adapt to it.”
Keywords: influenza, vaccination against influenza, SARS-CoV-2

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