The Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) has approved the Common Lifelong Vaccination Schedule for 2023, which contemplates the incorporation of four new vaccines, including Herpes Zoster (HZ) for people over 65 years.
The Common Lifelong Vaccination Schedule indicates the vaccines to be administered to people residing in Spain from the National Health System. Since 2012, the current calendar for the following year has been published each year.
As of next year, the Herpes Zoster (HZ) Vaccination Schedule for people over 65 years of age will be incorporated into the Common Lifelong Vaccination Calendar and, in addition, it will be possible to progressively capture cohorts between 66 and 80 years of age, starting with the population who is 80 years old.
As of next year, the Herpes Zoster (HZ) Vaccination Schedule for people over 65 years of age will be incorporated into the Lifetime Common Vaccination Schedule
He It is a highly prevalent disease, with a higher incidence after the age of 50 and in women, increasing with age and, considerably, with the presence of immunosuppression and certain risk conditions.
This herpes, which comes from the chickenpox virus, causes the characteristic “shingles”an infection that in immunosuppressed patients can spread and produce systemic diseaseinvolving various organs and multiple dermatomes, giving rise to the so-called disseminated zoster. And although herpes zoster rarely causes death in immunocompetent patients, vaccination greatly improves the well-being of the elderly, since herpes zoster causes a lot of pain and can even become chronic, last for years, and is difficult to treat.
The new Common Vaccination Calendar throughout Life contemplates other novelties:
- Vaccination against Human papillomavirus (HPV) to males. In this way, both girls and boys will be vaccinated at 12 years of age. The two-dose vaccination schedule will be applicable with a minimum interval of 6 months.
- The recommendation to systematically vaccinate the child population against the Invasive Meningococcal Diseasea (EMI) by serogroup B with the 4CMenB vaccine, due to the high severity and sequelae of this disease, as well as the fairness of the measurement in the population.
The recommendation, already approved in 2018, to administer two doses of the 4CMenB vaccine to people from risk groups not previously vaccinated. In addition, in these population groups, administration of a booster dose is recommended one year after completion of vaccination and every five years thereafter.
- Vaccination against influenza in children between 6 and 59 months of age is also included in the schedule, a recommendation by the WHO and the European Union.
On the other hand, the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System () has also approved the standards for certification of the PROA teams (Program for the Optimization of the Use of Antibiotics), both hospital and community, which are multidisciplinary teams that intervene to improve the use of antibiotics.
The PROA Certification Standards approved work in the antibiotic prescription optimization to improve the prognosis of patients who need them and, above all, minimize adverse effects.
This measure responds to the commitment to promote a prudent use of antibioticssince resistance to antibiotics causes thousands of deaths a year in Europe and was declared by the WHO in 2020 as one of the ten main public health threats facing humanity.