2024-03-05 14:44:20
Flu vaccination coverage stagnated among people at risk between 2013 and 2023, note the Mutualités Libres in a study published Tuesday. In ten years, seniors, pregnant women and chronically ill people have remained far from the 75% coverage recommended by the World Health Organization.
One in two seniors was vaccinated once morest the flu in 2023. Ten years earlier, this proportion was exactly the same (50.7%), according to figures from the mutual fund, which surveyed 1.6 million members. adults.
People suffering from a chronic condition are even less protected (43.4%) than ten years ago (46.9%). Conversely, the proportion of pregnant women vaccinated once morest influenza has increased slightly, but remains very low (14.8% in 2022 compared to 10.4% in 2013).
The coronavirus pandemic caused a surge and, in 2020, the vaccination rate rose to 57.5% among those aged 65 or over, 52.7% among the chronically ill and 26% among pregnant women. However, the following year, the cover was unraveled once more.
Thus, only 63.3% of people who received an influenza vaccine in 2020 repeated the operation each of the following three years. The least faithful to the vaccine are individuals without a comprehensive medical file (DMG, managed by the doctor and which brings together all the patient’s medical data) and, above all, the 18-45 year old group (less than 22%). After the peak of the pandemic, the coupled vaccination campaigns – where the anti-Covid serum booster and the flu vaccine are administered on the same day – have therefore, it seems, not made it possible to anchor in habits protection once morest seasonal flu.
The Free Mutualities also note that, in the three risk groups, the flu vaccination rate is lower in Brussels than in Wallonia or Flanders. The explanation is multifactorial. For example, fewer people in Brussels have a DMG, explains the spokesperson for Mutualités Libres, Marianne Hiernaux. The capital also has more isolated seniors than other Regions, and up to three times more elderly beneficiaries of increased intervention or integration income (such as the CPAS). In addition, the study does not include people who seek treatment in medical centers, where a patient does not have a regular doctor.
Generally speaking, several obstacles to vaccination coexist. A person may therefore be unaware that they belong to a risk group, they may be suspicious of the healthcare system or even have developed resistance based on past experiences. The cost of the vaccine and the provision of care can also constitute an obstacle, as can certain logistical constraints (difficulty traveling, etc.).
To increase the vaccination rate, “all health stakeholders” must make “a significant effort”. In addition to doctors, nurses and some midwives can also administer a flu vaccine (on prescription from a doctor). Since October, patients can also turn to their pharmacist.
“The doctor is an important reference figure for the patient, even more so for the elderly and chronically ill,” notes Ms. Hiernaux. “Our figures reveal that, in complementarity with the general practitioner, the pharmacist also takes an active role in vaccination, with 73% of vaccines prescribed (compared to 26% by doctors, Editor’s note) and 20% of vaccines administered for groups with risk.”
In 2020, this proportion was almost reversed: 20% of vaccines for vulnerable populations were prescribed by pharmacists and 72% by general practitioners.
In Belgium, the flu affects an average of 500,000 people each year, 2% to 3% of whom develop complications (such as pneumonia) requiring hospitalization, according to figures from Mutualités Libres.
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