Getting the acceptance and coverage enjoyed today by childhood vaccination programs to be similar to those of adult immunization programs is a challenge for health authorities. However, any effort aimed at improving coverage in these groups would be offset by reduced care costs due to fewer serious illnesses. This is the case of prevention against herpes zoster (HZ), around which the VI Public Health Forum was held, organized by Wecare-U with the support of Fundamed and GSK , and which has had the vision of all the agents involved in the vaccination chain.
Shingles Screening
Primary Care is the first step in detecting this pathology, as explained by Isabel Jimeno, head of the Vaccine Group of the Spanish Society of General Practitioners (SEMG), who recalled the need to have a common calendar for adults and avoid differences between Communities already existing.
Pilar Arrazola, head of Preventive Medicine at Hospital 12 de Octubre, stressed the need to strengthen preventive medicine services and communication between professionals to improve vaccination.
For his part, Antonio Rivero, head of the Infectious Diseases Service at the Reina Sofía Hospital, stressed the loss of quality of life associated with the disease, by “causing intense pain that can be prolonged and complicated by postherpetic neuralgia.”
The views of the Administration and patients
Jorge del Diego, deputy director of health promotion and prevention at the Ministry of Health, stated that the supply of doses of the new zoster vaccine is already assured and that its use will prevent a very limiting disease while generating savings for the system given its proven cost-effectiveness .
Precisely, one of the territories that has made the most progress in vaccination against herpes zoster is Madrid, which has been vaccinating people between 65 and 80 years of age since May . Elena Andradas, general director of Public Health of the Madrid Ministry of Health, highlighted as one of the priorities of this Community the inclusion of vaccine innovations with agility and efficiency following the criteria established in the Public Health Commission and with the aim of “winning years with quality of life.
The Public Health Forum has also reflected the needs of patients regarding this vaccination. Marcos Martínez, manager of the Spanish Group of Cancer Patients (GEPAC) has valued training by the patient, as a “complementary activity” to professional work. Having an effective prevention tool, such as the HZ vaccine, is “welcome news” for Jorge Garrido, director of Apoyo Positivo, an entity with an NGO model that provides support to patients with HIV, among others.
A bet on vaccines
The conference also featured one of the main researchers of this vaccine in Spain, Javier Díez Domingo, head of the FISABIO Vaccine Research Department (Valencia). The expert highlighted the observed increase in the incidence of HZ in people with comorbidities , such as people suffering from COPD or diabetes. In this context, Díez highlighted data that drew his attention during clinical trials, such as the prolongation of pain for more than three months due to postherpetic neuralgia
For his part, Jaime Pérez, a specialist in Preventive Medicine from the general directorate of public health of the Ministry of Health of Murcia, offered his technical point of view focused on the vaccination recommendations approved by Health: vaccination of people with risk conditions and also of healthy adults of 65 and 80 years . He highlighted, among other interesting aspects, that the average risk of suffering from HZ increases with age, reaching 50% in people over 85 years of age and that complications include postherpetic neuralgia, blindness associated with ophthalmic zoster , as well as hospitalizations that are increasingly frequent due to this pathology.
Finally, Ana Hernando, Director of Institutional Relations in the Vaccines area of GSK Spain, spoke of the need to promote research into new vaccines that allow addressing medical needs that are not yet covered and improve the efficacy of some of the existing vaccines. Referring to adult vaccination, he stressed that the progressive aging trend of the European population justifies the commitment to adult vaccination as part of healthy aging and in line with the objectives set by the WHO itself.
