Vaccinations and the movement of antivaccers

Abstract

Abstract Background Recently, also thanks to some political parties that defend no-vax theories, vaccination coverage is decreasing, increasing the costs of health care spending and the resistance of pathogens to antibiotics. Some studies begin to show that vaccines, reducing the spread of pathogens (also by means of the so-called flock effect), reduce, in addition to mortality, morbidity and cost of health care, also the antibiotic-resistance, which it is increasingly a big problem in industrialized countries. Methods analysis of available literature and other valid government sources. The research was carried out by inserting on Pubmed: “vaccines”, “antimicrobial resistence”, “vaccines AND antimicrobial resistence”, “cost vaccination”, “cost antimicrobial resistence”. Later we added “AND Italy” to the previous queries. Results mistrust in the vaccines is spread in a variable way within and outside the borders of the European Union[1]: 41% in France, 21% in Italy, 13% in the USA and 10% in Germany; last, the UK with only 9%, compared to a world average of 12%. Regarding costs, the proportion of infections on total acute hospitalizations under ordinary conditions is constantly increasing and in 2014 reached 36.5 per thousand. The infections lengthen the average stay of 3 days (DS: 0.4-10) and giving the value of 700€, on average, to the additional days of hospitalization attributable to infections, we understand how the annual expenditure varies between 369 and 492 millions of euros. As for the total direct and indirect costs of influenza, which for Italy are estimated at 2.86 billion€, vaccinating the whole adult population would fall to 1.56 billion (-€1.3 billion). All this leads to an increase In healthcare spending (in 2015 the National Health System spent €317.9 million on vaccine purchases, Or only 1.4% of total pharmaceutical expenditures), both in terms of resources diagnosis, treatment and treatment, both in terms of working days lost due to illness and post-infectious period. Key messages The political fight against antivaccinist movements is as important as the promotion of vaccines in the reduction of AMR. The cost to reduce antivacciners movements are an investment to reduce cost of AMR.