Vaccinations in any way?

1994/11/01 Dorronsoro, Miren Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

Since in 1796 the British physician first introduced a child against smallpox, the world of prevention and vaccines has changed a lot.

He sought and tested the way to prevent one of the most serious infectious diseases of the time (although the Chinese used smallpox prevention much earlier through the technique called variolization). In the next 175 years many of the world's most important health studies were conducted in the field of vaccination.

And so we arrived at the end of this century. A few years ago, around the sixties, the fear of infectious diseases was lost by suspecting that antibiotics could cure everything, and research focused on constituent drugs. Since then things have changed a lot and the reasons are clear. On the one hand, among infectious diseases, the essential development and diffusion of viruses (in many cases very serious) and the evident lack of antivirus drugs, and on the other, the evolution of genetic research and, above all, of genetic engineering, as well as the new and better incorporations that it has produced.

Fifteen years ago there were six vaccines in the “children’s vaccination calendar” that until then we recommended. Now there are nine and it seems that soon two or three others will enter. In the case of the elderly (over 65) and among the so-called risk groups there are three or four vaccines in a place where there was nothing fifteen years ago.

Vaccination has been and is considered very positive in all health systems and has been, without a doubt, one of the cheapest of all health expenses. In the C.O.P.V. The expenditure made on vaccinations in the last ten years is ten times higher and we can say that we have a very advanced calendar. However, in the last two or three years a new discourse is being introduced (especially in developed societies). The pharmaceutical industry has great strength in the economic world and although it has created new and effective vaccines, they are more expensive for previous investments in research. Exercising the capacity of the industry, it exerts great pressure on public administrations, which are the most important (almost unique).

On the other hand, there are new vaccines, but there are still no new or renewed pest vaccines (such as AIDS) or we have older vaccines (such as tuberculosis). New vaccines, although valuable, can be for special groups (cancer, immunodeficiency, etc.) or against insignificant diseases among us, which are very expensive.

Following the demands of the welfare society, the measures to avoid all diseases seem necessary to us, and since this approach is of full legality and the resources are limited, without adhering to the effectiveness, the dissemination of any vaccine cannot be promoted.

However, leaving aside the economic conditions, which in a way must be overcome, in the world of vaccination we have to address another point. Currently the newborn has 5 injections a year (protecting 7 diseases) and at 14 years has a total of 12 injections (protecting 8 diseases). Most new vaccines would be easily introduced in different calendars, if they did not require new injections.

Hence the work and debate of the coming years. And that is almost exclusive task of the pharmaceutical industry, offering a much wider protection with each injection. For this, a special demand and pressure will have to be made from public institutions, but it will undoubtedly benefit everyone. Otherwise, high vaccination coverage among us could fall to the detriment of everyone, as it is difficult to put so many injections into the child against a disease that is not seen.