Vaccines, WHO programs turn 50: preventable diseases have gone from 6 to 20 (but too many geographical disparities remain)

Vaccinating your child is a gesture of generosity towards the little one, but also towards the world population, because achieving herd immunity is essential to guarantee public health and defend the vulnerable, who cannot be vaccinated. This year, the World Health Organization's Expanded program on immunization, which began in 1974, they are fifty years old and have now spread to all countries in the world. And, thanks to this program, the number of diseases preventable with vaccinations has gone from 6 to 20. Unfortunately, however, the differences between countries and continents continue to be heavy and serious: In some countries, vaccination coverage is above 90%, but more than one million children worldwide do not have access to vaccination programs. It is with this fact that it opens World Immunization Week 2024, running from 24 to 30 Aprilwhich aims to remind us of the importance of vaccinations: it does so with a special title, «Humanly possible», or humanly possiblebecause every individual effort can make a difference.

Respiratory syncytial virus

The prevention of communicable diseases is not limited to vaccines. There are two other fundamental tools: monoclonal antibodies and breastfeeding. «It has been active for some time anti-RSV prophylaxis with monoclonal antibodies (palivizumab) reserved for certain categories of newborns at risk, but another monoclonal antibody is available (nirsevimab), approved by AIFA in January 2023, capable of protecting all newborns with a single administration” remember Nicola Laforgia, director of the SIN training plan. And precisely the Italian Society of Neonatology, with the Board of the Vaccinal Calendar for Life, the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health (SItI), the Italian Society of Paediatrics (SIP), the Italian Federation of Pediatricians (FIMP) and the Italian Federation of General Practitioners (FIMMG) is committed to ensuring that this universal prophylaxis of respiratory syncytial virus diseases for all newborns is adopted by the Government.

Bronchiolitis and other diseases

Respiratory syncytial virus can be dangerous, because it is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, acute respiratory infections, asthmatic bronchitis and asthma in children, adolescents and young adults, but it can also cause exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults and the elderly and of interstitial pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome, especially in frail people. Only last season caused 28 thousand hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths (of which 1,800 among the over 60s). For all these reasons, the SIN offers the availability of all Italian Neonatologies, in collaboration with the vaccination centres, to implement the administration of monoclonal antibodies to newbornswhich must be available in all Regions free of charge.

The benefits of breast milk

«Vaccinations and antibody prophylaxis are very powerful tools capable of preventing serious pathologies, hospitalizations and the use of the National Health Service, with health and economic benefits. Along with these, one cannot fail to underline the preventive effect that is guaranteed, immediately after birth, by breast milk», we read in a SIN note, which reminds us that breastfeeding transfers maternal antibodies to the baby, protecting him and helping him to produce his immune defenses independently. To guide parents in vaccinations, SIN and the Italian Society of Pediatrics have developed the brochure «Your child… protect him also with vaccinations! It's never too early”through which you can learn more about the vaccination plan and the diseases preventable with the vaccine.

Vaccination coverage in Italy

The vaccination offer in Italy is based on ten mandatory vaccinations and six strongly recommended ones, among them the anti-HPV one, which unfortunately continue to have insufficient coverage. Among the obligatory ones there are diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and chickenpox (V) vaccine. The latest data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), however, show that measles vaccination coverage has worsened: the first dose is given in 94% of cases for the first administration, the second in 85% and this data can help explain the numerous cases of measles (213) recorded in the first three months of 2024.