The vaccine against the flu will arrive in the surgeries of all general practitioners this week, the Chief Medical Officer stated at the online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic held on Wednesday.
Cecília Müller asked patients falling into high-risk groups from the respect of coronavirus infection to take advantage of free vaccination.
The vaccine will be available in the surgeries of all general practitioners by 20 October, at the latest, but there are practices which have already started the administration of the vaccine, she added.
She repeatedly drew attention to the fact that neglected underlying conditions not kept in check significantly increase the risk of complications resulting from the coronavirus disease. The Chief Medical Officer asked those taking medicines on a regular basis to consult with their general practitioners more frequently.
She said in the interest of avoiding group gatherings, the 23 October central commemorations will be confined to the raising of the national flag and the presentation of awards. The Chief Medical Officer asked local governments and other organisers to regard this as a guideline.
She reported that up to July 26,046 persons had attended the training courses that had begun in health care in the spring; 4,434 physicians, 15,545 nurses and 1,901 assistant nurses have completed the entire training programme.
Ms. Müller stressed that in order to ensure that all coronavirus patients requiring hospitalisation receive appropriate care, there is a planned procedure.
Institutions are being designated, experts are being deployed and volunteers are being enrolled in care on an ongoing basis. They pay attention to ensuring the maintenance of care at an appropriate level also in institutions from which staff have been transferred to others. At present, the number of health care workers transferred from one institution to another is between nine hundred and a thousand, she added.
She also mentioned that the clinical patient trials involving the active ingredient remdesivir developed by the pharmaceutical company Richter as a generic product have begun. The antiviral drug is administered to patients in a moderate condition, and it may reduce fatalities by a half.
In answer to a question, Ms. Müller said there is no documented case either in Hungary or in the relevant international literature about expectant mothers who passed the infection onto their new-born babies, whether during pregnancy or during breast-feeding.
This is very good news which gives rise to optimism, the expert highlighted, adding at the same time that these cases require much closer monitoring. She said in Hungary “they came across a few such cases,” but in none of these cases did the mothers infect their babies. However, she drew attention to the fact that the virus is transmitted via droplet infection, and therefore young breast-feeding mothers who have been diagnosed with coronavirus infection are advised to wear face masks.
Regarding social institutions, Ms. Müller said the virus is present in 52 institutions out of 1,600, and 641 persons have been registered as positive cases. There are no mass incidences anywhere; typically, the number of positive cases in each institution is below five.
In answer to a question, the expert said the results of PCR tests carried out by private health care providers are entered in the central records, regardless of whether the tests came back positive or negative.
The Chief Medical Officer also highlighted that blood plasma therapy is an effective treatment for coronavirus patients, and in the case of patients with moderate symptoms, it can help avoid a more severe progression of the disease.
According to her information, there is sufficient blood plasma; at the same time, the number of persons requiring hospitalisation is rising, and she therefore asked those who have already had the infection to donate blood plasma.