TY - JOUR
T1 - Vaccination programs for older adults in an era of demographic change
AU - Doherty, T. Mark
AU - Connolly, Mark P.
AU - Del Giudice, Giuseppe
AU - Flamaing, Johan
AU - Goronzy, Jorg J.
AU - Grubeck-Loebenstein, Beatrix
AU - Lambert, Paul Henri
AU - Maggi, Stefania
AU - McElhaney, Janet E.
AU - Nagai, Hideaki
AU - Schaffner, William
AU - Schmidt-Ott, Ruprecht
AU - Walsh, Edward
AU - Di Pasquale, Alberta
N1 - Funding Information:
Without funding, however, recommendations have limited effect. While most high-income countries have some form of public funding in place for recommended vaccines [82], cost can still be a barrier to access and may discourage HCPs from recommending the vaccine. As one example illustrating this, moving from a partial to a full subsidy of pneumococcal vaccination for older adults in Australia raised the uptake from 39 to 73% in patients attending a large public hospital [86]. Similarly, pediatric vaccination in the United States is financially supported by the Vaccines for Children initiative and this has virtually eliminated previously significant regional, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in vaccination coverage [87]. In contrast, the same vaccines for adults can require substantial copayments, and ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in coverage rates are clearly visible [70].
Funding Information:
Conflict of interest GDG, ADP, RSO and MD are employees of the GSK group of companies. ADP, RSO and MD hold restricted shares in the GSK group of companies. MC received personal fees from the GSK group of companies. JEM is an employee of The Health Sciences North Research Institute and her institution received an honorarium from the GSK group of companies for her attendance at an advisory board meeting and she received travel reimbursement during the conduct of this work and outside this work. PHL, BGL and JF have nothing to disclose. EW received consulting fees from Alios Pharmaceuticals outside this work. JG received grants from NIH during the conduct of this work and received personal fees from the GSK group of companies for his attendance at an advisory board meeting during the conduct of this work. SM received personal fees from the GSK group of companies for her participation in a vaccine workshop in Brussels, Belgium, in February 2016 outside this work and received a grant from Takeda outside this work. WS received a grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the conduct of this work. WS also received personal fees from Merck, Pfizer, Genentech, Dynavax and Novavax during the conduct of this work. HN received personal fees from the GSK group of companies for his attendance at an advisory board meeting during the conduct of this work and received personal fees from Pfizer and MSD outside of this work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Objectives: Populations are aging worldwide. This paper summarizes some of the challenges and opportunities due to the increasing burden of infectious diseases in an aging population. Results: Older adults typically suffer elevated morbidity from infectious disease, leading to increased demand for healthcare resources and higher healthcare costs. Preventive medicine, including vaccination can potentially play a major role in preserving the health and independence of older adults. However, this potential of widespread vaccination is rarely realized. Here, we give a brief overview of the problem, discuss concrete obstacles and the potential for expanded vaccination programs to promote healthy aging. Conclusion: The increasing healthcare burden of infectious diseases expected in aging populations could, to a large extent, be reduced by achieving higher vaccination coverage among older adults. Vaccination can thus contribute to healthy aging, alongside healthy diet and physical exercise. The available evidence indicates that dedicated programs can achieve substantial improvements in vaccination coverage among older adults, but more research is required to assess the generalizability of the results achieved by specific interventions (see Additional file 1).
AB - Objectives: Populations are aging worldwide. This paper summarizes some of the challenges and opportunities due to the increasing burden of infectious diseases in an aging population. Results: Older adults typically suffer elevated morbidity from infectious disease, leading to increased demand for healthcare resources and higher healthcare costs. Preventive medicine, including vaccination can potentially play a major role in preserving the health and independence of older adults. However, this potential of widespread vaccination is rarely realized. Here, we give a brief overview of the problem, discuss concrete obstacles and the potential for expanded vaccination programs to promote healthy aging. Conclusion: The increasing healthcare burden of infectious diseases expected in aging populations could, to a large extent, be reduced by achieving higher vaccination coverage among older adults. Vaccination can thus contribute to healthy aging, alongside healthy diet and physical exercise. The available evidence indicates that dedicated programs can achieve substantial improvements in vaccination coverage among older adults, but more research is required to assess the generalizability of the results achieved by specific interventions (see Additional file 1).
KW - Demographic change
KW - Healthy aging
KW - Vaccination programs
KW - Vaccines
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U2 - 10.1007/s41999-018-0040-8
DO - 10.1007/s41999-018-0040-8
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85047650316
SN - 1878-7649
VL - 9
SP - 289
EP - 300
JO - European Geriatric Medicine
JF - European Geriatric Medicine
IS - 3
ER -