Vaccinations for both Covid and seasonal flu began on October 16th. The campaign aims to increase coverage for people at high risk, of all ages, due to pathological, physiological conditions (such as pregnancy) or work exposure, as well as of course those over sixty. This year too, the Ministry has included healthy children aged 6 months to 6 years in the category of people to whom the free vaccine is recommended. The objective is to reach 75% vaccination coverage in citizens aged 65 and over (age group for which Emilia-Romagna is in first place among the large Italian regions in terms of percentage of coverage), to improve vaccination coverage in healthcare personnel and children at risk of complications due to the presence of pathologies.
To delve deeper into the importance of vaccination, we conducted three interviews with professionals from the University Hospital of Ferrara, working in the field in different sectors.
The second interview is with the Prof. Agnese Suppiej (in the picture), Director of the Pediatrics Operational Unit of S.Anna.
Professor, why are pediatric vaccinations important?
“Vaccinations in pediatric age represent one of the most effective and safe interventions available to public health for the primary prevention of infectious diseases. Vaccines, in fact, fight very dangerous infectious diseases for which there is no therapy (polio and hepatitis B) or which is not always effective (diphtheria, tetanus). Or diseases that can cause serious complications (measles, rubella and whooping cough) and potentially fatal ones (invasive pneumococcal, haemophilus b, meningococcal diseases).
Vaccines, made up of entire inactivated infectious agents or parts of them, induce a long-lasting immune response, similar to that caused by the natural germ but without causing disease. The vaccinated child will be able for a long time (often for life) to immediately recognize the virus or bacterium and make it incapable of causing disease.
Vaccinating children therefore means protecting them from the disease for which they are vaccinated. On the contrary, not vaccinating them means running preventable risks and becoming a vehicle of contagion for people who cannot be vaccinated”.
How do vaccinations also “impact” people of other age groups who come into contact with children: for example grandparents?
“When the number of vaccinated (immune) children is very high, a real barrier is created which prevents the circulation of the germ. When the contagion of the disease occurs from an infected person to another susceptible person, the value of vaccination is not only that of providing individual protection, but also of protecting those who cannot take advantage of this opportunity for protection because they are of an age not eligible for vaccination, or because they are affected by certain diseases or clinical conditions for which vaccinations are contraindicated (herd immunity). In this context, in fact, even the few susceptible people will be indirectly protected from contagion, given that the probability of them coming into contact with an infectious person is minimal.”.
Why are vaccinations important for all healthcare workers?
“Healthcare workers, due to their contact with patients and potentially infectious material, are at risk of exposure and transmission of pathogens. The objective of an adequate immunization intervention in healthcare personnel is fundamental for the prevention and control of infections in order to protect themselves and others.
The health of healthcare workers is protected by Legislative Decree 81/07. The same operators are in contact with “fragile” subjects, at risk of developing serious, even lethal, complications following the contagion of certain infectious diseases (such as influenza, COVID-19) and play an essential role of strategic social importance in following epidemic or pandemic episodes: therefore active immunization represents a right and a duty for these workers.
The flu vaccination, as well as the anti-COVID-19 one, have a triple purpose: to protect the worker, to protect subjects with risky pathologies with whom the operator may come into contact and to whom he may transmit the infection and to avoid interruption of essential assistance services in the event of an epidemic”.