Around 56,000 cases of flu have been registered by the Ministry of Health (Minsa), so far this year, , down 10,000 from last year , reports Itza Barahona de Mosca, Director General of Health.

Barahona de Mosca said “We are controlling influenza in Panama with vaccination, other viruses are circulating that are not influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, which affects mainly children and rhinovirus which is the common cold.”

She  noted that “some people say the vaccine did not help them but , we must first be clear that what  the vaccine prevents  is complications and deaths”.

Barahona de Mosca added that those who  have not been vaccinated can do it, because there are still doses. In May they received 1.5 million flu vaccines.

She  recommended “if you have a cold that is getting complicated, go to the doctor in time, because it can be another type of virus or bacteria and the medical evaluation is the one it will give you the indication and the appropriate treatment.”

Injections against influenza are applied free of charge to the entire population in the various facilities of the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Fund.

The vaccine is tetravalent, that is, it protects against two strains of influenza A and 2 of influenza B.

In 2016, just over 2.6 million people were vaccinated with coverage of approximately 63% of the population, while in 2017, about 1.8 million citizens were injected.

This year they have vaccinated more than one million citizens. There were 73 deaths in 2016, while in 2017 the deaths were reduced to three .