The Australian Flu In Italy

[Gala Placidia]

A warning for everyone. It is much better to get a vaccination than getting the actual virus Check with your medical centre or family doctor.

ANSA.it - News in English - First flu cases in Italy confirmed

[patch2277]

Originally Posted by Gala Placidia

A warning for everyone. It is much better to get a vaccination than getting the actual virus Check with your medical centre or family doctor.

ANSA.it - News in English - First flu cases in Italy confirmed

That's if you believe that the doctors or medical centres know what they are talking about when it comes to vacinations

[Sally Donaldson]

or indeed anything!!!

[Charles Phillips]

The flu vaccination thing in Italy this year is getting quite a lot of publicity. We have had a really rather mild autumn (and it seems that low temperatures 'make you get flu') - so the take up has been historically low.

If you are over 65 or have certain medical conditions you can nip into your GP and get a flu jab. If you don't fall into these categories you can buy a flu jab at the pharmacy (for about €12). The press are saying that there are some nasty flu viruses around this year.

I'm one of those people who live by the rule of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', so I'm wondering whether to go for the jab or not. Maybe, for the first time in my life, I'll punt the €12 - (but for sure I'll get a bad reaction and regret it)...so I still don't know! But I do so hate having flu, and I've been free of it for about four years, so on the balance of probabilities I think I'll buy into it this year!

The good thing is that all I have to do is nip into the pharmacy (I have a friend who is a whizz with a syringe!) - and it is my choice to make.

[Carole B]

I missed the date to get my 'flu jab' done by my GP, so I have an appointment at the local ASL on Tuesday morning. Just need to turn up with my SSN card and they'll do it there and then. And, as I'm over 65 I get it for free.....

[AllanMason]

Originally Posted by Charles Phillips

...If you don't fall into these categories you can buy a flu jab at the pharmacy (for about €12).
...
The good thing is that all I have to do is nip into the pharmacy (I have a friend who is a whizz with a syringe!) - and it is my choice to make.

So is that seriously how it works: you hand over the money at the pharmacy and you're given a vial of vaccine with a syringe?

Given that we're in the middle of administering to our dog a course of treatment with a drug which is so nasty that you're strongly advised to handle it only when wearing gloves and a face-shield and we got that from a farmacia, I would not be at all surprised if the 'flu vaccine is often a DIY thing here.

On the other hand, nor would I be surprised if the procedure was to go along to your local ASL, pay the money, get a chit, take that to a pharmacy, get another chit and the promise of the vaccine being delivered to your GP at a certain time and then finally go see your doctor and to get the jab.

Al

[Gala Placidia]

I have been getting vaccinated against the flu for years now here in Spain and it really works. My husband gets it for free as he is over 65, he only has to ring the medical centre and they make an appointment for him. In my case, I have to pay for the vaccine, which is produced by the Pasteur Institute according to international medical advice. The vaccine itself costed me 7.50 euros and I had to take it to the medical centre, where I had already made an appointment with the nursing department, and they injected me. You have to be very careful when handling the vaccine as it needs to be kept in the fridge all the time.
I guess that the procedure will be very similar in Italy, but I encourage everyone to have this vaccine. Warning: it may give you a very mild reaction, you simply feel as if you were coming down with a cold or something similar, but the symptoms disappear quickly with a couple of aspirins or similar.
One year I decided not to get vaccinated and I caught the flu..... I was very sick for a couple of weeks. I will never repeat the experience.

[Carole B]

Originally Posted by AllanMason

So is that seriously how it works: you hand over the money at the pharmacy and you're given a vial of vaccine with a syringe?

Given that we're in the middle of administering to our dog a course of treatment with a drug which is so nasty that you're strongly advised to handle it only when wearing gloves and a face-shield and we got that from a farmacia, I would not be at all surprised if the 'flu vaccine is often a DIY thing here.

On the other hand, nor would I be surprised if the procedure was to go along to your local ASL, pay the money, get a chit, take that to a pharmacy, get another chit and the promise of the vaccine being delivered to your GP at a certain time and then finally go see your doctor and to get the jab.

Al

It is quite normal here for GP's to prescribe a course of injections for many 'illnesses'... When I first came here I was amazed - "Never happened in England" was my cry in those days (got over that argument 40 years ago though...).

If you are prescribed such a course and don't know anyone who is abke to do injections, the just ask at your local chemist - they won't do it, but they will know people locally who can. It is quite surprising how many Italians are able to do this and here people don't even think twice about it - me included.

The fact that ASL will do this one for me is because being over 65 it is provided free. But if I had purchased it at the chemists they would not have done it!

Just as an aside - once, before I was 65 and was still living in Milano, I had to buy my 'flu jab' myself. I then (innocently) took it along to my GP for him to do the injection. No problem, he did it straight away and then said "That's €15" .
I queried the fact that he was charging me and he explained that it 'wasn't his job' and I should have found someone who was qualified and who would have done it for a couple of €uro!

Don't you just love it?

[Angie and Robert]

Thank you for reminding me, I qualify for the free jab, but not Robert, so we popped into our GPS today and we both had the free jab, he said as we were both there might as well do us both.So one of the good guys, bit of a free spirit, a poet and a mountain climber and a very good doctor as well.!
A

[Gala Placidia]

Great Angie! A clever doctor as he realises that the cost of a jab is considerably less than the cost of treating a case of influenza. Actually, I think that the vaccine should be free to anyone and I would say that governments would end up saving money.
It looks as if the epidemic will be quite severe. They are talking about 5,000,000 people sick with influenza by Christmas.... not a nice way to spend the festivities.... Although it is called the Australian Flu, it actually started in the Solomon Islands in 2007 and with people travelling so much it is spreading very quickly.
For those who can read Italian, here is an interesting article on the subject:

Influenza, più di 5 milioni di italiani a letto entro fine anno - [AgorÃ* Magazine]