The pandemic and the PNPV 2017-19. Are vaccinations in the hearts of diabetologists? The AMD 2022 survey

Abstract

The 2017-2019 National Vaccine Prevention Plan has updated the vaccination offer of the S.S.N./S.S.R. for those affected by certain diseases as well as defining the vaccination schedule for the general population. As we know, vaccines are among the interventions with the lowest cost and the best results that can be implemented to improve personal and community health. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, are associated with an increased incidence of many infections and a greater severity and/or frequency of complications related to these diseases. The recent pandemic has highlighted how vaccination coverage can prevent serious complications in people with chronic diseases and comorbidities. This important preventive shield was partly undermined by the reduction in vaccination coverage due to a rampant phenomenon called “vaccine hesitancy”, i.e. a delay in joining or a r efusal of vaccination. This phenomenon is largely caused by low health literacy, disinformation and / or conspiracy campaigns that suggest that vaccination is a medical practice of unproven scientific safety and with obscure purposes. AMD launched, 3 years after the previous survey, a second survey to understand if Italian diabetologists had changed their attitudes towards vaccinations. The results clarify how, even if vaccinations are not the “core business” of our work, we are on the whole very favourable to vaccinations but with a strong demand for training, improvement of work organization, and support in order to better help our patients to join the PNPV. KEY WORDS vaccines; diabetes mellitus; prevention.