A new shingles vaccine it is available in the doctors’ briefcase. An adjuvanted recombinant vaccine that can provide greater than 90% protection against shingles in age groups over 50. The experts who took part in the webinar ‘Vax on / zoster off – the new paradigm for the prevention of herpes zoster finally available in Italy’ took stock of the characteristics of the vaccine and its importance for patients. “An effective weapon that must be used”, reiterated the specialists. “We almost all have the chickenpox virus and the increase in shingles is also justified by the increase in longevity and by a series of circumstances that favor flaws in immunity. Now we have an extra protection and we must ensure that in Italy we more vaccines among the elderly “, highlighted Massimo Galli, director of the infectious diseases department of the Sacco hospital in Milan.
“We are starting to talk about other vaccines and this is important – underlined Andrea Siddu, Directorate General of the Prevention Office – International Disease and Prophylaxis Office of the Ministry of Health – the anti herpes zoster vaccination is recommended in the latest 2017-2019 vaccination plan, renewed until 2021, and sees the indication for 65-year-olds with active call and for those with risk factors, from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, over 50 years of age. We have set up a working group to update the new plan and one of the commitments is to update it and direct it not only to professionals but to other professionals who work with frailties and risk factors, thus also extending it to general medicine ” .
“The herpes zoster vaccine is an immunization expected in Lea – recalls Siddu – the goal in 2020 was to vaccinate 50% of 65 year olds. If we managed to convince them to vaccinate against Covid, there is optimism that we will be able to grow all the other vaccinations. In March we made a circular on the introduction of the new vaccine with a presentation of the characteristics. There is great attention to frail and immunosuppressed people “. According to Rosa Prato, professor of General and Applied Hygiene at the University of Foggia, on anti herpes zoster vaccinations “we are still in the world of intentions, but the reality is different”. Prato’s fears also concern this new vaccine: “few Regions are moving towards purchasing tenders, my dream is that there is a greater engagement of professionals in the area and vaccination prescriptions become reality in the Pdta”.
According to Giovanni Rolla, director of Immunology and Allergology at the Mauritian Order of Turin, “after the age of 50 this pathology increases because the immune system ages and undergoes changes with a reduced ability to generate responses even to the vaccines themselves. In the elderly subject – he recalled – the response to vaccines becomes less brilliant, then the strategy is to package adjuvanted vaccines, such as the latest arrival against herpes zoster, which enhance the immunological response that obtains protective responses even in the elderly. Today we are assisting with this new vaccine adjuvanted progress with a marked increase in the preventive response to the disease, from 60-70% for the old live attenuated vaccine to responses over 85% “.
“With this new vaccine – explained Paolo Bonanni, Professor of Hygiene and Public Health of the University of Florence – we can also vaccinate those who have previously made other vaccines and those who have had episodes of the disease. With two doses of this vaccine there is excellent protection for about ten years and it should be strongly recommended to immunocompromised people even aged 18 and over because there are no alternatives “.
In conclusion Massimo Andreoni, head of Infectious Disease at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome, remarked that this new vaccine “is the weapon we needed, especially for immunosuppressed patients who remained uncovered and suffered serious consequences”. Alessandro Rossi, scientific director of the Infectious Diseases Area of Simg, the Italian Society of General Medicine and Primary Care, said he “had a dream: that Covid has strengthened the skills on vaccines”.