Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of pediatric respiratory infections and the second leading cause of death in the first year of life, globally. Starting from these data, representatives of national and local institutions, scientific societies, representatives of patient associations and experts discussed today in Bari the urgency of planning new actions, in view of the arrival of the new season, during the conference ‘RSV infections: new strategies and tools for protecting children’s health’. Among the topics of the meeting – as stated in a note – stand out the planning of a national immunization calendar that focuses on new opportunities for the prevention of RSV, through a passive immunoprophylaxis strategy for all children, and the organization of the health system so that it is equipped with the appropriate tools, so as to guarantee an efficient campaign that ensures protection for all children in their first year of life.
“I would like to underline the crucial importance that the Ministry of Health and the Regions jointly commit themselves to the prevention of the respiratory syncytial virus in children – declared the Honorable Marcello Gemmato, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Health, at the opening of the institutional greetings – L ‘RSV, as stated by the World Health Organization, is an unmet public health problem and is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, a lung infection that can be serious in infants and young children of the Ministry of Health released a circular in which it informed the Regions of the tools available for the preventive action. To guarantee a uniform approach without disparities, the Directorate is activating every procedure necessary to update the vaccination calendar, starting from the opinion. of the Nitag, the National Technical Advisory Group on Vaccinations”.
Senator Ignazio Zullo, member of the 10th Permanent Commission (Social Affairs, Health, Public and Private Work, Social Security) of the Senate of the Republic, joined the appeal. “It is now known – he said – that RSV in children is an unmet public health problem. The best weapon is passive immunoprophylaxis with monoclonal antibodies, as scientific societies say. In March of this year, with the ‘Alliance for a childhood free from RSV’ we have outlined the 5 actions that need to be implemented as soon as possible to address, with the tools available today and with a common direction, a still unsatisfied public health need such as RSV in children, reducing the impacts on our NHS and avoiding disparities at a regional level. It is time to act to make this possible in all Italian regions. What is missing now is an organic action by the institutions with the updating of the calendar national immunization program by the end of this year, to reach the Regions which currently have to ensure supplies for next autumn/winter, as is already happening in other European countries the Government in this sense following the circular of last March”.
“The Puglia Region has always been at the forefront in the prevention of infectious diseases – underlined Michele Emiliano, president of the Puglia Region – We have recently enriched the legislative instruments aimed at also guaranteeing the prevention of the respiratory syncytial virus in Apulian children. I hope that from the next season we will be able to have the monoclonal antibody which will be able to prevent an important pathology for children and parents with an important impact on the regional health service, in particular the hospital one”.
As Pierluigi Lopalco, full professor of Hygiene at the University of Salento and regional councilor, member and secretary of the Puglia Regional Health Commission, pointed out, “we finally have effective prevention weapons available to protect newborns from RSV. Puglia was the first region in our country to recognize that RSV is an important public hygiene challenge, approving a law in recent weeks that establishes specific prevention measures for diseases caused by this virus. It is now important to be ready for the next season and implement an effective immunoprophylaxis campaign on all newborns and children in the first months of life, or those who are approaching the first RSV season. This has a strong impact on their health and can leave significant after-effects that can transform into chronic respiratory diseases in their future path”.
RSV is a pathology for which “we do not have an effective therapeutic modality – observed Nicola Laforgia, director of the Neonatology and Tin Uoc of the Aou Policlinico of Bari – Therefore, implementing the most effective preventive strategy is essential. We finally have effective and safe tools to drastically reduce the burden of the disease and change the natural course of the disease. It is important to have a tool today such as the monoclonal antibody that protects all children under one year of age, that is to say in the age group most at risk and which most weigh on hospital commitment in the most serious cases that require access to intensive care”.
Respiratory syncytial virus – the note recalls – is responsible for 80% of bronchiolitis and 40% of pneumonia requiring hospitalization in children. In an entire birth cohort (about 400 thousand newborns in Italy), over 60% become infected within the first year of age and almost all within the second year, with over 20% (more than 80 thousand) at risk of developing a serious infection requiring outpatient or hospital care and which can cause medium- and long-term sequelae. As recently estimated by a group of experts, in Italy the economic impact of the disease is approximately 100 million euros each year.
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