Full preparedness for influenza season

An influenza vaccination campaign began in Russia in September, said Anna Popova, Chief State Sanitary Physician of the Russian Federation^[1]. Immunization is the most reliable way to protect yourself from the severe consequences this disease may have. Anna Popova reported that influenza vaccines had already been delivered to Russian regions. Grippol® plus and Grippol® Quadrivalent are modern domestic vaccination options that are widely used in Russia and for state immunization programs abroad. This year, Petrovax Pharm will supply more than 5 million doses of vaccines to the Russian market and over 5.5 million more as exports, including first time-ever deliveries to Moldova.

Influenza is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world, affecting up to 1 billion people globally every year^[2]. A sick person can easily transmit this infection to a healthy one when sneezing, coughing or talking, mainly through airborne droplets. Many people underestimate the danger influenza presents, believing that it is no worse than the common cold. However, the disease may lead to serious complications, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, exacerbation of asthma, myocarditis, encephalitis and multiple organ system failure.

Vaccination is the only effective way to prevent influenza. Mikhail Kostinov, Professor, M.D., PhD, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that those Russians who did not have themselves vaccinated against influenza were 2.5 times more likely to suffer from acute respiratory infections in 2022-2023 compared to those who got their shots^[3]. Vaccination significantly reduces the risk of getting sick and also prevents the severe course of the disease and possible complications further on.

Pregnant women, the elderly, people with chronic diseases and children represent a special risk group—these are the people who can experience a more severe course of the disease.

Children are more likely to carry viruses, and the influenza virus can lead to a severe form of the illness in them. Experts estimate that each year influenza causes about 870,000 hospitalizations and 34,800 deaths among children under 5 years of age^[4]. Immunizing children can help reduce influenza virus transmission, protecting both the child and his or her siblings.

For example, a clinical study featuring the quadrivalent inactivated adjuvant vaccine Grippol® Quadrivalent in 14 clinical centers in Russia has demonstrated a high level of immunogenicity and a favorable level of safety in children aged 6 months to 5 years^[5]. Details of the study were recently published in the journal Pediatric Pharmacology.

Another study, published in the international peer-reviewed journal Vaccines^[6], confirms the efficacy and favorable safety profile of Grippol® plus and Grippol® Quadrivalent vaccines in one of the complex groups of patients with common variable immunodeficiency. Previously, it was deemed unsafe to vaccinate such patients due to the risk of possible vaccine-associated complications.

“Grippol vaccines show lower local reactogenicity compared to split and subunit unadjuvanted vaccines, and the favorable safety profile and high immunogenicity make these products good options for vaccination against seasonal influenza,” emphasizes Anna Galustyan, PhD in Medicine, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Pharmacology with a Course in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoeconomics at FSBI HPE SPbSPMU^[7]. These vaccination options are available to everyone, including people from high-risk groups who need extra protection: pregnant women, children aged 6 months and older, people with chronic diseases and even weakened immunity.

Experts constantly remind us that an annual vaccination against the flu is needed as the flu itself is very variable in nature. The World Health Organization updates each year its recommendations on the strain composition of vaccines for the Northern Hemisphere, which manufacturers adhere to.

Vaccination against influenza is available at polyclinics and mobile immunization stations during September-November, that is, no later than 2-3 weeks before a rise in respiratory diseases.

Influenza vaccinations are generally well tolerated because most vaccines are based on inactivated (destroyed) antigens of influenza viruses types A and B.

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¹ https://www.rospotrebnadzor.ru/about/info/news/news_details.php?ELEMENT_ID=28322

² Influenza (seasonal). WHO Bulletin. Electronic source. Access 06.09.2024

³ M.P. Kostinov. From a speech at the International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the expanded program of immunization in the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty. Electronic source. Access 06.09.2024

⁴ V.V. Romanenko at al. Results of a clinical study of the influenza quadrivalent inactivated subunit adjuvant vaccine Grippol Quadrivalent in children aged 6 months to 5 years (inclusive). PEDIATRIC PHARMACOLOGY / 2024 / VOLUME 21 / No. 3.

⁵ V.V. Romanenko at al. Results of a clinical study of the influenza quadrivalent inactivated subunit adjuvant vaccine Grippol Quadrivalent in children aged 6 months to 5 years (inclusive). PEDIATRIC PHARMACOLOGY / 2024 / VOLUME 21 / No. 3.

⁶ Kostinova, A.M.; Latysheva, E.A.; Kostinov, M.P.; Akhmatova, N.K.; Skhodova, S.A.; Vlasenko, A.E.; Cherdantsev, A.P.; Soloveva, I.L.; Khrapunova, I.A.; Loktionova, M.N.; et al. Comparison of Post-Vaccination Cellular Immune Response in Patients with Common Variable Immune Deficiency. Vaccines 2024, 12, 843.

⁷ А.N. Galustyan. From a speech at the 4th International Forum “Days of Virology 2023”. Electronic source. Access 06.09.2024