Quadruple flu vaccination is beneficial

The flu season has already begun. The last severe flu wave in 2014/2015 claimed thousands of lives in Germany. Despite this high risk, the vaccination rate in Germany is still too low. Only about half of the elderly population over 60 or patients with chronic Diseases can be used against Flu vaccinate.

The flu vaccine does not cause flu

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) was able to show through a study that misjudgments regarding Flu shot are widespread. Every second person over 60 and those with chronic illnesses believes that the vaccination could trigger influenza.  
However, since the vaccine consists of killed pathogens and does not contain any viruses capable of reproduction, it is not possible for the vaccine to trigger flu. influenza vaccination The mild cold symptoms that sometimes occur are harmless and cannot be compared to the symptoms of a real flu.

First cases of influenza already in autumn

The German Society for Infectious Diseases (DGI) recommends October and November as the best time for the flu vaccination. The first cases of flu have already occurred in the last few weeks.  

Quadruple vaccine against influenza can be useful

For the 2016/2017 season, the influenza vaccine consists of the antigens of the following circulating viruses:  
• A/California/07/2009 (H1N1) pdm 09-like strain
• A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2) -like strain
• B/Brisbane/60/2008-like strain (Victoria line)
• For quadrivalent vaccines additionally: B/ Phuket/3073/2013 (Yamagata line)

The WHO (World Health Organization) has recently misjudged the two influenza B virus strains several times. The hit rate was no longer significantly different from the 50:50 chance of flipping a coin. The quadrivalent vaccines solve this problem by covering both influenza B strains.

The costs for the quadruple influenza vaccination are usually covered by private health insurance companies, but not by statutory health insurance companies.