Vaccination of adults and of patients with chronic diseases

Abstract

Vaccination (inoculation) is considered as one of the grea­test achieve­ments of global public health. Vaccination is the most cost-effective method to prevent diseases, and the mor­bi­di­ty and mortality of many diseases have dropped sig­ni­fi­can­tly with the increase in coverage of vaccinations. Across countries, the complexity and specificity of vac­ci­na­tion recommendations are directly proportional with the de­velop­ment of the social security and of the healthcare sys­tems. In Romania, the vaccination recommendations are com­plex, but not complete, and target only the po­pu­la­­tion aged 0 to 14 years old. Furthermore, the recom­men­da­tions are only strictly theoretical and no public funds are ear­marked for the implementation of a program to ino­cu­late adults and patients with chronic conditions, aside from in­flu­enza vac­ci­na­tion. Health professionals have a duty to know and re­com­mend a specific immunization program for the healthy adult, the pregnant woman, as well as the adult with chronic con­di­tions. The spread of diseases such as the flu, diphtheria, te­ta­nus, whooping cough, chicken pox, shingles, measles, mumps, rubella, invasive pneumococcal di­sease, and hepatitis A and B can be limited at all ages, only through vaccination.