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→Free flu vaccine to indigent senior citizens in Sorsogon
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==DOH offers free flu vaccine to indigent senior citizens in Sorsogon By Danny O. Calleja== | |||
*Source: http://bulantoday.com/2012/01/03/doh-offers-free-flu-vaccine-to-indigent-senior-citizens-in-sorsogon-by-danny-o-calleja/ | |||
*January 3, 2012 | |||
:by bulantoday.com | |||
SORSOGON CITY, Jan. 3 (PNA) – The Department of Health (DOH) through the facilities and health service personnel of the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital (SPH) here is providing free vaccine against flu to indigent senior citizens in the province. | |||
Dr. Edgar Garcia, the provincial health officer and SPH chief on Monday said the free medical services and vaccines are under the health department’s Code White Alert being implemented as mitigating health strategy and as part of the disaster risk reduction management mechanism of the Aquino administration. | |||
“The program wants to see to it that public health, as one of the priority concerns is well served in providing early interventions so that mitigation for health concerns is addressed,” Garcia said. | |||
The prolonged rainy season and cold weather call for this preventive intervention as the elderly sector is exposed to flu contamination under this climate conditions, he stressed. | |||
Flu or influenza, according to Garcia is a highly contagious viral infection that affects the respiratory tract. Compared to common colds, flu can cause severe illnesses and can lead to serious complications in all age groups. | |||
While other viral infections carry symptoms that usually are mild and do not prevent most afflicted individuals from doing normal daily activities, flu symptoms are severe and prolonged and can cause the individual to miss days of work or school. The infection stresses the body, he said. | |||
“Flu may cause high fever, cough, sore throat, a runny nose, headache, more malaise and severe body aches. Some people describe the flu as being like the worst cold of their life. Most people feel better after one or two weeks, but for some, the infection leads to serious, even life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia,” Garcia explained. | |||
Because of its infectiousness, severity of symptoms, time lost for work or other physical activities and the potential to lead to serious complications, it is important to prevent flu and the best way to avoid it is to get the vaccine each year before the flu season. | |||
Each year, he said the influenza virus can change slightly making the vaccine used in previous year ineffective. | |||
A world-wide flu surveillance has been established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to detect and select the most likely strains to circulate in the forthcoming flu season. These selected strains are used to develop the new vaccine formula. | |||
The flu vaccine contains three different strains of the virus which scientists believe are most likely to show up. Flu vaccine is safe and almost all people who received it have no serious problems from it, Garcia said. | |||
The vaccine is generally effective against the flu virus within two weeks of the vaccination. It works by exposing a person’s immune system to the virus as the body is enabled to build up anti bodies to the virus to protect you from getting the flu, he said. | |||
The flu vaccine is 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing the flu in healthy people. Some people who get the vaccine will still get the flu, but they will usually get a milder case than people who were not vaccinated, Garcia said. | |||
He however reminded everyone especially the senior citizens and children that are age groups highly flu vulnerable to maintain a healthy lifestyle with proper diet and exercise to reduce the impact of the infection. | |||
The provincial health chief said indigent old people usually suffer respiratory diseases due to cold weather condition, poor living conditions and poor diet, thus it is exigent that vaccine to fight flu be given to this sector. | |||
Local health workers from the province down to the barangays and local government officials were already informed of this free vaccination campaign and they were requested to advice indigent senior citizens within their areas of responsibility to avail of this services being given at the SPH, he said. | |||
“They will not be charged of any amount for this as the vaccines are provided free by the DOH and the services are from government health works and doctors,” he added. (PNA) | |||
LAP/LQ/DOC/cbd | |||
==Free flu vaccine to indigent senior citizens in Sorsogon== | ==Free flu vaccine to indigent senior citizens in Sorsogon== | ||
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“Most have somehow contributed also to their communities but because of financial constraints, most can not avail of the cost of medicines, Dorion said. | “Most have somehow contributed also to their communities but because of financial constraints, most can not avail of the cost of medicines, Dorion said. | ||
“Today, the Code White program implementation of the DOH as a mitigating health strategy and as part of the disaster risk reduction management mechanism has seen to it that health is one of the priority concern provided early intervention so that mitigation for health concerns be addressed,” Dorion concluded. (MAL/IAG-PIA Sorsogon) | “Today, the Code White program implementation of the DOH as a mitigating health strategy and as part of the disaster risk reduction management mechanism has seen to it that health is one of the priority concern provided early intervention so that mitigation for health concerns be addressed,” Dorion concluded. (MAL/IAG-PIA Sorsogon) | ||
==No firecracker victim in Sorsogon on Christmas; celebrations peaceful== | ==No firecracker victim in Sorsogon on Christmas; celebrations peaceful== | ||