The period starting in October each year is the time for getting influenza vaccinations, but the disease-control measures implemented since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have been so comprehensive that they have also caused the number of influenza cases to fall, and that has caused year’s influenza vaccination rate to be lower than in previous years. Doctors say that postponing routine vaccinations to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a low percentage of people having antibodies against the flu. In other words, it has created an immunity debt, and many experts predict that this situation will allow influenza to come back in a big way.
In a post on his “Dr. Wubow” Facebook page, Wu Han-meng, an attending physician at the Dianthus Pediatric Clinic, expressed concerns, not because he is seeing fewer patients, but because he may soon see a big influx of those with flu. People may think that, because there was no spread of influenza last year under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions, we can all forget about the flu, and that there is no need to get vaccinated against it.
According to Wu, a group of French doctors and experts have proposed the concept of an “immunity debt” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that during the pandemic there had been fewer cases of some viral and bacterial illnesses in children, and believe this is an effect of measures taken against COVID-19. As well as infections having fallen, people’s efforts to avoid the epidemic had led them to delay getting some regular vaccinations. Notably, those that effect children include not only influenza, but also all the usual pediatric vaccines.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者廖振輝
Wu said that, in order to prevent epidemics, it is necessary to have a certain percentage of the population with antibodies. If this percentage is not achieved, we are left with an immunity debt. For this reason, many experts predict that influenza may make come back with a vengeance this year. Wu therefore urged everyone to go and get vaccinated against influenza, and he said he hoped his followers would see this post and share it with others.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
每年十月起是流感疫苗的接種期，但武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）疫情爆發，防疫措施的完善也使得流感案例減少，讓今年流感疫苗接種率不如往年。醫師表示，為了避免武肺疫情，推遲常規疫苗的接種，使帶有流感抗體的族群比例不高，產生免疫負債，因此許多專家學者預測這種情況會使流感大反撲。
Photo: Lin I-chang, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者林宜樟
小禾馨民權小兒專科診所主治醫師巫漢盟則在臉書粉專「阿包醫生陪你養寶包──小兒科巫漢盟醫師」發文直言，他開始害怕了，不是因為病人變少，而是接下來可能會見到大批流感病人湧入，因為大家認為新冠病毒疫情之下，去年並未有流感流行，所以可以忽略，疫苗也不用打。
巫漢盟進一步說，新冠病毒疫情爆發之後，一群法國醫師及專家提出了「免疫債」的觀念，他們發現疫情之下，一些病毒性或細菌性的疾病兒童案例都減少了。此外，他們也認為，是我們對新冠病毒的防疫措施發揮了效果，不只感染的案例減少，人們也為了避免疫情，推遲了一些常規疫苗的施打，特別是影響兒童的不只是流感，還包括所有的兒科常規疫苗。
巫漢盟提醒，人口中必須要建立一定比例帶有抗體的族群，才能對抗疾病的大流行。如果沒達到這樣的人口數，那就是免疫負債了，因此，許多專家學者預測今年流感可能大反撲，呼籲大家快來打流感疫苗，希望各位粉絲們看到這篇貼文後，能讓更多人了解。
（自由時報）
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