generico

Havana, Oct 11 (RHC)--Cuba's pediatric population aged six years to 11 months and 29 days will receive as of this Monday the anti-flu vaccination, aimed at preventing severe complications associated with seasonal influenza in the southern hemisphere.

The group will receive two doses of the vaccine with a four-week interval between them in a campaign designed to last until next December.

According to a note from the Ministry of Health, it also includes pregnant women, regardless of the quarter in which they are pregnant, and asthmatics and diabetics between 19 and 24 years of age.

Subsequently, the adult population aged 85 and over and people institutionalized in nursing homes, grandparents' houses, and psycho-pedagogical centers will also be vaccinated.

In addition, poultry and livestock workers exposed to the risk of influenza will also be vaccinated.

Among those prioritized are patients with chronic renal insufficiency, patients over six years of age with infantile cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis, and chronic psychiatric inpatients and workers in care services for patients with severe acute respiratory infections.

Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by flu viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs, can cause mild to severe episodes, and can sometimes be fatal.

Cuba has also been immunizing against poliomyelitis in an annual campaign since 1962, thus becoming the first country in Latin America to be declared free of this infectious-contagious disease that affects the central nervous system.

The national immunization program includes vaccination against 13 diseases, eight of the products are developed and produced in this Caribbean island.