Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 20: Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said all the people in general and high risk, in particular, and healthcare workers must get flu shots in September and October.
President DAK, Dr M. Yousuf Tak said that they have observed in winters the incidence of flu cases surge and a large number of people fall sick in Kashmir.
In a statement issued here, he said: “Such a sharp rise in flu cases which has a clinical spectrum akin to Covid like illness will subsequently overburden the health infrastructure and can create chaos and confusion among people.”
He said that preventing flu is important but in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to reduce illnesses and preserve scarce health care resources.
Dr Owais H Dar, General Secretary DAK said: “During such disasters that have a huge impact on life and livelihood it is our responsibility that we must be preventive and address all dimensions of the pandemic”.
“Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with chronic co-morbid conditions like diabetes, COPD, bronchial asthma, Chronic Kidney Disease and underlying heart diseases,” he said.
Dr Fayaz Ahd Bhat, Sr Physician said that vaccination further reduces the risk of flu-associated acute respiratory infection among pregnant women by about one half.
DAK appealed to the government that this year it is mandatory that all people should be vaccinated with flu vaccine so that people do not fall sick and overburden already overstretched health infrastructure.
The medico body has also demanded flu vaccines for all health care workers working across Jammu and Kashmir free of cost on an urgent basis on the analogy of the previous year.
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