The Department of Health and Social Security of the autonomous government of Catalonia has 300,000 more doses of the flu vaccination.

The Department of Health and Social Security of the Generalitat has begun the campaign of flu vaccinations 2003 – 2004, which will last from the 1 ^st October to the 30 ^th November.  This year, for the first time, all inhabitants of Catalonia between 60 and 64 years of age can receive the vaccination free of charge, along with those considered to be in high risk groups.  Vaccinations will be given at primary health care centres and carried out according to a programme established by each centre.

The Department of Health and Social Security’s Committee of Experts on Vaccinations recommended bringing forward five years the age for vaccination, based on studies of mortality of people over 60 as a result of this virus.

The Department of Health and Social Security has acquired over 1,300,000 doses of the vaccination for the   2003 – 2004 campaign, 300,000 more than the previous year, which will be used to cover the increase in the age range.  The 2002 – 2003 campaign included around 72% of the population aged 65 or over.

The vaccinations to be given in the 2003 – 2004 campaign are to combat the A(H1N1), A(H3N2) and B viruses.  The composition is different to that used in previous campaigns.  The Department of Health has designed an information campaign about the new vaccine addressed to health professionals and has published posters and informative leaflets to be distributed to primary health care centres.

The vaccination campaign is designed to include:

• All those over 60 years of age
• People interned in closed institutions: Homes for the elderly, centres for the chronically ill, mental health institutions, etc
• Adults and children suffering from chronic lung or heart diseases, including asthma.
• Adults and children who have been hospitalised or under medical surveillance during the last year as a result of chronic metabolic illnesses (including mellitus diabetes), kidney disease, haemoglobin disorders or immunodeficiency(including that caused by HIV medication)
• Children and adolescents (from 6 months to 18 years old) who have undergone a long-term treatment involving Acetylsalicyic acid ad who could therefore develop Reye’s Syndrome after having flu.
• Women in the final six months of pregnancy during the flu season.

- Those who could transmit flu to high-risk groups:

• Medical personnel, nursing staff and other hospital workers and those related.
• Those working in residential homes for the elderly or looking after the chronically ill or those who have contact with patients or residents.
• Workers at residential homes or centres for high-risk groups.
• Workers providing assistance at home to high-risk individuals (nurses, voluntary workers, etc).
• Other people likely to be in contact with those at risk (e.g. children at home with a high-risk individual)

-  Those who provide essential services to the community, in order to minimise interruption to these services during outbreaks of flu.

  Table 1.  Flu vaccination dose distribution by health regions for the 2003 – 2004 campaign.

Source: Department of Health and Social security.