How to prevent respiratory infectious diseases after school starts? Here is the authoritative answer →

The National Health Commission held a press conference on September 6 to introduce the relationship between seasonal solar terms and health and answer questions from reporters.

As autumn and winter approach, respiratory diseases such as influenza and pneumonia will gradually become more prevalent. When is the best time to get vaccinated? If you miss the vaccination time, is there still a chance to get vaccinated? Which groups should be vaccinated first?

As the weather turns cold, we have entered the season of respiratory diseases. Vaccination is a convenient and effective measure to prevent respiratory infectious diseases. In the entire process of preventing and controlling infectious diseases, vaccination is also a preferred measure. Each vaccine has its own immunization program. Generally speaking, the age of the vaccine, the number of doses, the interval, and the choice of vaccine all fall within the scope of the immunization program. There is also a special suggestion for influenza vaccination, which is that vaccination before the influenza epidemic season will have a better preventive effect. Generally, we recommend completing the vaccination before the end of October. If you did not have time to get vaccinated before October due to various reasons, you should complete the vaccination as soon as possible to make the vaccine more effective. Because it takes about 2 to 4 weeks for the vaccine to take effect.

Regarding the vaccination population, whether it is influenza or pneumonia, after being infected with bacteria and viruses, some people have more severe symptoms after becoming ill. There are priority recommended populations for vaccination. Simply put, they are "one old, one young, and one weak". "One young" refers to children under 5 years old, especially infants; "one old" mainly refers to the elderly over 60 years old; "one weak" mainly refers to people with chronic underlying diseases. Whether it is influenza vaccine or pneumococcal vaccine, the priority recommended populations are roughly the same. People over 6 months old are recommended to receive influenza vaccine as long as there are no contraindications.

If you want to know more specific information about influenza vaccines, pneumococcal vaccines and new coronavirus vaccines, you can go to the community health service center or township health center in your jurisdiction and consult the vaccination doctor for further information.

As the school season begins and children return to campus, the risk of common respiratory infectious diseases in schools may increase. How can we prevent them?

After the start of school, students gathered together and had close contact in a closed space such as a classroom, which increased the chance of infectious diseases spreading, especially respiratory diseases such as influenza, chickenpox, and mumps. The risk of spreading is greater. To prevent infectious diseases, we have told you before that we should start from three aspects, including controlling the source of infection, cutting off the transmission route, and protecting susceptible people. For example, the morning and afternoon inspection system carried out in the school, the tracking and registration of absences due to illness, and the health monitoring system are all measures to timely discover and control the source of infection. If students have symptoms such as fever, cough, parotid swelling, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, and conjunctival congestion, parents should report to the teacher in time and seek medical treatment in time. In the process of daily life and study, wear masks scientifically, wash hands frequently, keep hands clean, ventilate the closed space as much as possible, pay attention to coughing etiquette, do not advocate going to school and classes with illness, and try to avoid large crowds during the epidemic season. These are all measures to cut off the transmission route. To enhance immunity, increase exercise appropriately, maintain a balanced diet, and have a regular work and rest schedule. Vaccination is to improve the specific immunity of the population, and to prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases targeted by vaccines, so that the role of vaccines can be better played and further protect susceptible people.

Here I would like to emphasize one point in particular. At the beginning of the school year, the country has a system for checking vaccination certificates for new students. The main purpose is to understand whether children have missed any vaccines. If so, they should go to the community health service center or township health center as soon as possible to get a timely booster shot. This will help vaccines better prevent corresponding infectious diseases and reduce the prevalence and occurrence of infectious diseases in schools, kindergartens, and nurseries.

Source: National Health Commission official website, CCTV News