The alarming drop of vaccine coverage in Italy reported by the Istituto superiore di sanità and the rising scepticism towards the efficacy and safety of vaccinations is not due to parents being less informed than ten years ago. On the contrary, nowadays the resolution to take mindful health choices for their own children is a stronger drive for families to gather information. A drive that does not represent a lack of attention or a weaker desire to protect their kids.
Italy is facing a serious drop in vaccine coverage, which are falling close to – and in some cases even below – the target set by the Minister of Health in the current national plan for vaccine prevention. This is a serious problem for public health, since, for infections transmitted from man to man (tetanus being an exception), a high coverage is necessary to protect those people that cannot be vaccinated either because of their age or because of clinical reasons, such as for cancer therapies, through the mechanism of herd immunity.
The monographic issue of Vaccine, published in August 2015 under the title “WHO Recommendations Regarding Vaccine Hesitancy”, is a collection of materials produced by a group specifically dedicated to the topic in 2012, under the combined leadership of the WHO and UNICEF.
Not differently from many other mothers, I actually started to delve into the world of vaccines when my first daughter was born. Before that, I only have old and indistinct memories about vaccines as one of the several youth’s unavoidable steps. After discussing in forums with other parents – before the advent of social network – I realized that what I used to dismiss as a non-relevant matter, was indeed a topic able to ignite passionate discussions, with data-quoting attacks and mutual excommunications on either side of the barricade.
For a country, being ready to face an infectious disease outbreak requires, among other things, the capability to reach and involve all the components of the society. Especially those that are more exposed to health threats due to low quality housing, poor nutrition, lack of parental education and weak links to health services, as it happened in the 2010 measles epidemic in Bulgaria, where 90% of recorded cases occurred within the so-called Roma community.
On June 3rd, the European Commission rejected the Stop Vivisection Initiative, which asked to abrogate Directive 2010/63/EU1 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and to put forward a new proposal aimed at phasing out the practice of animal experimentation, making compulsory the use - in biomedical and toxicological research - of data directly relevant for the human species.
A Cochrane reviewer has accused a Canadian health chief of misquoting his work to justify a “tyrannical” policy forcing staff to be vaccinated against flu or wear a mask.
Under the policy, being introduced from 1 December, health workers in British Columbia who refuse to be vaccinated must wear a mask throughout the flu season. All those who have had the vaccine will be given a distinctive badge to wear.
