The NIL makes recommendations for flu season

According to the Council of Experts, vaccination against influenza should remain the basis, due to the fact that it is the only recognized method of preventing the disease.

– This is extremely important. Although the epidemic has already begun, vaccination even in the midst of it is beneficial. It is also important because we expect a second flu wave in the spring - says prof. Ewa Barcz, vice-dean for clinical and development at the Collegium Medicum of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.

Vaccinations should cover all adults and children from the age of six. Vaccination of pregnant women is very important as they are particularly vulnerable to complications.

- These complications are associated with the risk of miscarriage or abnormal fetal development, as well as infection of the child after delivery - adds prof. Ewa Barcz.

RSV is especially dangerous for young children. Hence the recommendation to limit contacts of older children and adults with upper respiratory tract infections with newborns and infants.

– RSV passes relatively safely in the elderly and in older children. In small children, who do not have a developed defense mechanism and a cough mechanism, severe infections of the lower respiratory tract occur, requiring oxygen therapy and urgent hospitalization - emphasizes Assoc. Magda Wiśniewska, chairwoman of the NIL Council of Experts.

Experts also remind you to update Covid-19 vaccinations. This will protect patients from simultaneous or sequential infectious disease.

In turn, people who already show signs of upper respiratory tract infection should be isolated, according to the NIL recommendation, at least until the symptoms subside, i.e. for a minimum period of 5-7 days. It is also necessary to limit visits to medical care facilities, especially inpatient care. It is associated with the risk of spreading the disease, especially among immunocompromised people. According to experts, not only should we not resign from the obligation to wear protective masks in health care facilities, but this order should be extended to people from special risk groups to other places as well.

- For the elderly, people with immunodeficiency, pregnant women and small children, we will recommend returning to wearing masks in public places and all places where there is a larger concentration of people. We would like to protect this population in particular, and wearing masks is the best method of preventing droplet-borne infections, says Assoc. Magda Wisniewska.

Physicians also emphasize that they need access to diagnostic methods.

– We need to be able to use tests, preferably rapid antigen tests, and optimally combo tests. We will recommend their wide dissemination, preferably with reimbursement in primary health care, emergency rooms and hospital emergency departments - lists the chairwoman of the Council.

Recommendations also include a renewed call for legislative changes that would enable self-reporting of illness by employees.

– These are solutions that function in many countries. The patient, when he feels unwell, should be able to report his illness to the employer. However, it remains to be determined how long you can stay on such leave and what the payment for these days would look like - notes Prof. Ewa Barcz.

According to the president of NIL, Łukasz Jankowski, the situation in the health care system is very difficult today. We are dealing with a triple epidemic: influenza, RSV and Covid-19, and the situation is not improved by the low percentage of the population vaccinated against influenza, and booster against Covid-19.

– Primary care offices are overcrowded, and the system is based on family doctors working beyond their strength, who try to patch up the system's shortcomings as much as they can, concludes Łukasz Jankowski.