The well-known and less well-known benefits of vaccines
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EDITORIAL
The well‑known and less well‑known benefits of vaccines Jean‑Pierre Michel1 Received: 1 March 2020 / Accepted: 17 June 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Keywords Vaccines · Global health · Public health · Cardio-vascular prevention · Antimicrobial resistance
Introduction With the outbreak of a new coronavirus (COVID-2019) that has been rearing its ugly head for several weeks in China and worldwide [1–3], the international press and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations have already advocated the urgent need to develop an appropriate vaccine [4]. This request illustrates without a doubt that although current uptake of adult vaccines is still too low in Italy, and in Europe in general [5], vaccines have a powerful (if not magic) perceived efficacy for the general public. Indeed, everyone seems to have understood that vaccines train the immune system to recognize and respond to a pathogen by mounting a rapid and effective immune defence, preventing the establishment of infection or disease, or decreasing the disease severity [6]. As stressed in the paper by Antonelli Incalzi and colleagues in this issue [5], vaccine hesitancy is linked to “the constant flow of contradictory, distorted or plainly false news about vaccines in the media, and much of this information stems from sources that are not scientifically robust”. Disinformation of the public about vaccination is not compensated for by medical and paramedical personnel, in whom there is a notable lack of training, and who are often not updated about the burden of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) [7]. Yet, the fight against VPDs is a major public health priority. The tremendous positive clinical, social and economic impacts of vaccines on preventable infectious diseases are part of a multidimensional and integrated approach to healthy ageing. In their paper, Antonelli Incalzi et al. propose homogeneous and efficacious strategies to scale up vaccination rates from children to seniors in Italy [5], recipes that will be very useful in other European countries. Among * Jean‑Pierre Michel Jean‑[email protected] 1
Medical University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
the most important recommendations, the following stand out in particular: • Set-up of a centralized registry of immunization, ena-
bling continuous monitoring at regional and national levels, which will enable epidemiological evaluation of the impact of vaccinations as well as their socio-economic benefits. • Implementation of specific teaching about vaccines and vaccination, not only in paediatrics or public health but also in internal and geriatric medicine in all medical and health care faculties. • Development of a wide-reaching, attractive and repeated media campaign about vaccinations, explaining how they positively impact survival and life expectancy. Moreover, it is now scientifically proven that vaccines have a significant efficacy on the prevention of cardio- and neuro-vascular events. These benefits are only known to a few professionals [8], who are
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