Michel, Jean-Pierre

RERO DOC Digital Library

Aging Clinical and Experimental Research199 Aging Clin Exp Res, Vol. 21, No. 3(Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 199-200)Key words: European advocacy, healthy aging, vaccine.Correspondence: Jean-Pierre Michel, MD, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva Medical School and University Hospitals,Chemin Pont Bochet, 3 Thonex-Geneve, CH 1226, Switzerland.E-mail: Jean-Pierre.Michel@hcuge.chReceived and accepted March 9, 2009.Vaccinations: “not just for kids”(1)Jean-Pierre MichelDepartment of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva Medical School and University Hospitals,Thonex-Geneve, SwitzerlandVaccines which have drastically reduced the burdenof childhood diseases are not yet accepted as contributingto improving healthy aging (1-3). The non-respect and/orabsence of sustainability in vaccine programs do not enablemaintenance of life-long protection against such child-hood diseases as diphtheria (4), measles (5) and pertussis(6), which may result in increasing incidence of these dis-eases in adults in the future (7). Infectious diseases in old-er people also remain a significant cause of morbidityand mortality in the increasing population of adults aged 60years and older (8, 9). The high burden of infectious dis-eases in this segment of the population is disproportionate,as many of these diseases are vaccine-preventable (10).In 2001, the lower respiratory infections which rep-resented the fourth most frequent cause of death in high-income countries – 4.4% of total deaths (11) – are threetimes more lethal in old than in young adults (12). Sur-prisingly, tetanus is still a current active disease, with210 cases in Portugal between 1993 and 2002 (13), 175in England between 1984 and 2000 (14) and 158 inPoland between 1998 and 2005 (15, 16) affecting es-sentially adults over 55 years of age. In the 1990s, a diph-theria epidemic in the newly independent states of the for-mer Soviet Union claimed over 3000 lives, essentiallyamong persons aged 35 to 50 years (4). The notificationincidence of pertussis in the Netherlands also increased no-tably between 1998-2001 and 2002-2005 in the olderpopulation group (6). The annual incidence of Herpeszoster in the general population is estimated at 3.6-14.2cases/1000, and the recurrence risk is multiplied by 8 to10 in adults over the age of 60 (17, 18).Without a specific disease-preventable vaccine pro-gram for adults aged 60 years and older, these infec-tious diseases will keep their upper morbidity and mortalityranks in the next few decades (19), whatever diagnostic andtherapeutic progress is made, because the worldwide pro-portion of adults over the age of 60 will increase from 10%in 2002 to 21% in 2050 (20). During the same period, theincrease will reach +60% in Europe (21).These data explain why the two European geriatric andgerontological societies (European Union GeriatricMedicine Society [EUGMS] and the International Asso-ciation of Gerontology and Geriatrics – European Region[IAGG-ER]) decided to promote preventive aspects ingeriatric medicine, concerning both life threatening-dis-eases (influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia andtetanus/diphtheria) and diseases which adversely impactpatients’ quality of life (pertussis and herpes zoster).Longer life expectation necessitates careful adaptationof vaccine guidelines to contribute to healthy aging (22).This special issue of Aging Clin Exp Res advocates theneed for a life-course vaccine program based on:- Better knowledge of the process of immunosenescence(see Grubeck-Loebenstein et al.) (23);- Better understanding of the reasons for low vaccine cov-erage in older European citizens (see Samson et al.) (24);- A detailed inventory of the consequences of infectious dis-eases and the potential benefits of their specific vac-cine prevention (influenza: Gavazzi et al. (25), pneumo-coccal pneumoniae: Chidiac et al. (26), tetanus: Top-inkova et al. (27), and Herpes zoster: Johnson (28));- The need for new educational tools (Belmin et al.) (29)to contribute toward ensuring the willingness to vaccinateand be vaccinated (Baeyens et al.) (30) to reach WHOand EC vaccine goals (Gusmano et al.) (31).The main focus of this European clinical vaccine ad-vocacy (Michel et al.) (32) is to complement existing in-formation and increase the acceptance of vaccinatingall adults aged 60 and older, their family members, andhealthcare professionals.EDITORIALVaccinations: not just for kidsAging Clin Exp Res, Vol. 21, No. 3 200REFERENCES1. Bloom H. Immunizations: Not just for kids. In: International LongevityCenter - USA. http://www.ilcusa.org/pages/publications/ageism-sleep/immunizations--not-just-for-kids.php ed. New York: InternationalLongevity Center - USA; 2007: 1-8.2. Siegrist CA. Vaccinology update 2005: a new category of rec-ommendations for optimal vaccine protection. Rev Med Suisse2006; 2: 67-70.3. Zimmerman RK, Middleton DB, Burns IT, Clover RD, KimmelSR. Routine vaccines across the life span, 2007. J Fam Pract2007; 56: S18-37, C1-3.4. Vitek CR, Wharton M. Diphtheria in the former Soviet Union:reemergence of a pandemic disease. Emerg Infect Dis 1998; 4:539-50.5. Muscat M, Bang H, Wohlfahrt J, Glismann S, Mølbak K; EU-VAC.NET Group. Measles in Europe: an epidemiological as-sessment. Lancet 2009; 373: 383-9.6. de Greeff SC, Mooi FR, Schellekens JF, de Melker HE. Impact ofacellular pertussis preschool booster vaccination on disease bur-den of pertussis in The Netherlands. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2008; 27:218-23.7. Kretsinger K, Broder KR, Cortese MM et al. Preventing tetanus,diphtheria, and pertussis among adults: use of tetanus toxoid, re-duced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine recom-mendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices(ACIP) and recommendation of ACIP, supported by theHealthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee(HICPAC), for use of Tdap among health-care personnel. MMWRRecomm Rep 2006; 55: 1-37.8. Htwe TH, Mushtaq A, Robinson SB, Rosher RB, Khardori N.Infection in the elderly. Infect Dis Clin North Am 2007; 21: 711-43.9. Liang SY, Mackowiak PA. Infections in the elderly. Clin GeriatrMed 2007; 23: 441-56, viii.10. High K. Immunizations in older adults. Clin Geriatr Med 2007;23: 669-85, viii-ix.11. Lopez AD, Mathers CD, Ezzati M, Jamison DT, Murray CJ. Globaland regional burden of disease and risk factors, 2001: systematicanalysis of population health data. Lancet 2006; 367: 1747-57.12. Yoshikawa TT. Perspective: aging and infectious diseases: past,present, and future. J Infect Dis 1997; 176: 1053-7.13. Castro L, Goncalves G, Catarino J. Reported cases of tetanus inthe North of Portugal (1993-2002). Missed opportunities forvaccination. Acta Med Port 2004; 17: 225-30.14. Rushdy AA, White JM, Ramsay ME, Crowcroft NS. Tetanus inEngland and Wales, 1984-2000. Epidemiol Infect 2003; 130:71-7.15. Zielinski A. Tetanus in 1998. Przegl Epidemiol 2000; 54: 151-6.16. Zielinski A. [Tetanus in Poland in 2006]. Przegl Epidemiol 2008;62: 333-5.17. Gnann JW Jr, Whitley RJ. Clinical practice. Herpes zoster. N EnglJ Med 2002; 347: 340-6.18. Kimberlin DW, Whitley RJ. Varicella-zoster vaccine for the pre-vention of herpes zoster. N Engl J Med 2007; 356: 1338-43.19. Murray CJ, Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and dis-ability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study.Lancet 1997; 349: 1498-504.20. UN. World population ageing 1950-2050. In: Affairs DoEaS, ed.:United Nations; 2002.21. Michel JP, Gold G. Coping with population aging in the old con-tinent--the need for european academic geriatrics. J Gerontol ABiol Sci Med Sci 2001; 56: M341-3.22. Michel JP, Chidiac C, Grubeck-Loebenstein B et al. Advocatingvaccination of adults aged 60 years and older in Western europe.Rejuvenation Res 2009; 12: 127-36.23. Grubeck-Loebenstein B, Della Bella S, Iorio AM, Michel J-P,Pawelec G, Solana R. Immunosenescence and vaccine failure inthe elderly. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 201-9.24. Samson SI, Mégard Y. Overview of vaccination policies for the el-derly in Western European countries. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009;21: 210-5.25. Gavazzi G. Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers: from asimple concept to a resistant issue? Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21:216-21.26. Chidiac C, Ader F. Pneumococcal vaccine in the elderly: a usefulbut forgotten vaccine. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 222-8.27. Topinková E, Marešová V. Tetanus and pertussis vaccines: theirusefulness in aging population. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21:229-35.28. Johnson RW. Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia: areview of the effects of vaccination. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009;21: 236-43.29. Belmin J, Bourée P, Camus D et al. Educational vaccine tools: theFrench initiative. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 250-3.30. Baeyens JP, Lang PO, Michel JP. Willingness to vaccinate and tobe vaccinated in adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 244-9.31. Gusmano MK, Michel JP. Life course vaccination and health ag-ing. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 258-63.32. Michel JP, Chidiac C, Grubeck-Loebenstein B et al. Coalition ofadvocates to vaccinate of Western European citizens aged 60years and older. Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 254-7.

Vaccinations: "not just for kids”

http://doc.rero.ch/record/321979/files/40520_2013_Article_BF03324903.pdf

Vaccinations: "not just for kids”

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

RERO DOC Digital Library