A local health surveillance study has long determined that summer is the ideal time to get vaccination for flu, or trangkaso, not as a reaction to the wave of illnesses the season’s scorching heat brings, but as precaution to the onset of wet season, when the influenza virus thrives the strongest.
In 2004 the Department of Health’s (DOH) Emerging Infectious Diseases Program concluded that influenza goes all throughout the year, with the “peak season” falling on the rainy months.
“Dati, ang akala natin, influenza’s peak was during the colder months of December, just like in the US, and the suggested vaccination period was around August, before the cold season,” said Dr. Ning Villa, who was the DOH National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) head at the time of the study. “But because of the surveillance, we found out that influenza goes all throughout the year in the Philippines, and December is just a minipeak. Ang major peak niya talaga is from June to November.”
Villa explained that the rainy season is more conducive for the influenza virus to prosper. It dies within minutes of exposure to heat, but can survive longer in colder places. She added flu is transmitted through contact with sneezing or coughing droplets containing the influenza virus, which can also be airborne.
“During the rainy season, we stay together in one place, in waiting sheds or at home, where the virus thrives longer and can be transmitted easier. This is the reason we are recommending that flu vaccination be done around these months, just before the peak of the influenza season.”
Villa was speaking as a panelist at the recent launch of “Trangkaseason”, a public-health information campaign by the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) that aims to engage the public in “building the nation’s resistance against flu”.
Also part of the panel was PFV President Dr. Cecilia Montalban, who underscored the importance of treating the flu seriously. “Most of us think when we get the flu, ‘OK, flu lang ’yan,’ but that’s not true. We should never underestimate it, because the flu virus can kill.”
Montalban said there are certain groups of high-risk individuals who should be extra cautious of influenza. This group includes the very young (under age 2), the very old (over age 65), patients with underlying diseases (diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease, renal failure) and pregnant women.
A highly contagious respiratory illness, influenza is a leading cause of morbidity in the Philippines. According to the NCDPC, one out of 100 Filipinos get sick of influenza yearly, and it is responsible for up to 500,000 deaths worldwide.
But, despite the alarming figures, the PFV president said in the country, they have noted “a lot of people would rather have the flu than the vaccine”.
A couple of reasons Montalban cited for this misguided thinking is the people’s perception regarding the prices of vaccines and plain ignorance.
“If you look at the economics of it, [taking the vaccine] will turn out to be cheaper, kasi once ka lang bibigyan ulit this year. But if you get sick, you’d be absent for three to five days,” Montalban said. “Sabihin nating minimum-wage earner ka, you earn P500 a day…. Three, four days, you already lost P2,000. And then you buy your medicines, analgesic, cough syrup, decongestant, and you would also buy the antiviral agent, which would cost P1,000 for only seven days. In short, you’d be spending so much more to treat a flu than to have had received a vaccine.”
She added there are people who are simply not aware of the preventive measures, not just the patients but some doctors, as well.
Dr. Sally Gatchalian, immediate past president of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines, stressed that going down with the flu does not only affect the patient. “You also transmit the virus to other people, from coworkers to family members. It’s not only you who’s losing a lot.”
This is also the message carried out by two video presentations made by PFV during the campaign launch. One shows an excited grandmother anticipating the weekend visit of his son’s family, preparing days ahead for the gathering. The elderly woman cleans the house and prepares her family’s favorite food. But when the day comes, she gets a call from her son, voice hoarse, saying he, along with his wife and children, caught the flu and thus won’t be able to make it that day. The grandmother sighs in disappointment, and wishes her son well, before the video ends with this message: “When you have the flu, you’re not the only one who feels bad.”
As a parent, morning-show host Lyn Ching-Pascual knows a thing or two about that reality. “Kung OK ako at mga anak ko naman ’yung magkasakit, makakatrabaho ba ako ng maayos, knowing that my child is in the hospital,” she said.
Ching-Pascual is a supporter of the Trangakaseason, saying she believes in vaccination and the campaign’s goals. She takes flu shots with her children annually, which has allowed her to stay relatively healthy throughout her 23 years in showbiz. “That’s my mind-set lagi: I want to be always ready.”
Montalban said influenza vaccines can be given to anyone above 6 months of age, and should be taken every year for optimum protection. According to vaccines.gov, “the formulation of the flu vaccine is reviewed each year and sometimes updated to keep up with changing flu viruses”.
Flu vaccinations are available at health centers or through consultations with a doctor. There are also government facilities and programs that provide them for free to indigent families.