Winter is nearing its end, but South Korea’s disease control agency has advised parents to vaccinate their children against influenza, warning that a second wave of flu could emerge among school-age children as the new school term begins next week.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that vaccines for influenza, whooping cough, measles, mumps and other diseases are available for free and urged timely vaccination.
According to the KDCA, flu infections tend to increase among children as they spend the majority of their time in an enclosed, indoor environment during their school term.
The agency underscored that while the number of influenza patients has declined throughout the first quarter of this year, many flu infections were still observed among school-age children.
The KDCA also warned that other infectious disease cases, including chickenpox, mumps and whooping cough, continued to grow as the school term begins, citing its data from last year.
“Among the total number of chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough patients last year, the school-age population accounted for 68.3 percent, 44.5 percent and 86.6 percent, respectively. The number of whooping cough patients continued to increase until just before the school break. It started to subside as the vacation began,” the agency said.
It added that flu vaccinations are available for free for children aged six months to 13 years until April 30.
Outside of vaccines, the agency emphasized that personal hygiene and preventive measures, including frequent handwashing, mask-wearing and classroom ventilation, are essential to protect children from infectious diseases.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
