“As a public health operator, I am thrilled to have this new tool at my disposal”. flu because it is part of the Ili (Influenza Like Illness). possibility of prevention. Thus Francesco Vitale, professor of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine and director of Clinical Epidemiology at the Policlinico hospital in Palermo, to Adnkronos Salute, commenting on the authorization, by the European Commission, of the first vaccine to protect adults, from the age of 60 ‘age upwards, from Rsv.
“Today, finally – adds Vitale – we have a vaccine that is adequate from the point of view of technical data and scientific evaluations: in the authorization trials it has shown great efficacy. I hope it can be available already for the next winter season when it will be important start vaccinating people.”
Reflecting on the impact that the pathology has on the elderly population compared to the infantile population, Vitale observes that “the population of children, in the first two years of life, is a population which, in Italy, is less than 1 million, while the Italian population with over 65 years is made up of about 14 million people. Therefore – he continues – if it is true that the incidence of RSV infection is higher in very young children, it is also true that a lower incidence in the over 65 population means a much higher number of cases, also because it affects elderly people with comorbidities. This means that if we used this vaccine well – he underlines – as well as the others obviously, we could really save thousands of cases, hospitalizations but also deaths “.
“At the last world public health congress which took place in Rome last May – continues the professor – we presented an estimate obtained with a mathematical model based on American data, which are able to count the cases of RSV in a much more precise way. Well, if we had the same incidences observed in the United States – he explains – in Italy we should expect to have about 420,000 cases of RSV infection in adults over 65, about 21,000 hospitalizations and about 3,500 deaths per year. This is the burden of disease that we could avoid or at least limit by using a tool like the vaccine well”.
“My greatest concern – observes Vitale – lies in the fact that we still do not have the 2023-2025 National Vaccine Prevention Plan which has been ready since the end of 2021, has already passed the scrutiny of the technical-scientific bodies, but is blocked in the State Conference – Regions due to the increased cost of vaccine prevention. This plan does not yet have this vaccine, which will therefore cost something more, but when the Plan is already being blocked because there is discussion of a cost increase of around 200 million euro per year for all of Italy, for all vaccines – which is a very small amount compared to what some drugs cost – well I’m worried because we have an important tool for important prevention but if we can’t use this vaccine then it will be a failure” , concludes the expert.
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