These New Vaccinations Will Soon Be Available in Austria
This was explained by Angelika Wagner from the Institute for Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine (MedUni Vienna) on Saturday at the Austrian Vaccination Day in Vienna.
While about 20 years ago, the lack of interest from science and the pharmaceutical industry in new vaccines was often criticized, the wheel is now turning faster and faster, mainly due to the developments in biotechnology. An example of this is a new pneumococcal vaccine specifically for adults or elderly people, which has been under review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) since spring 2024.
New Vaccination to Better Protect Adults Against Dangerous Pneumococci
20 to 30 percent of pneumococcal pneumonia also show pathogens in the blood (bacteremia). In the case of pneumococcal blood poisoning, 20 to 30 percent of patients suffer from chronic kidney failure (dialysis), as do 30 to 50 percent of patients with pneumococcal infections of the central nervous system, the expert explained. In Austria, children under two years of age and adults over 60 years of age are particularly affected. Two-thirds of the diseases lead to pneumonia. But almost 20 percent of those affected have pneumonia and pneumococcal sepsis.
Overall, there are about a hundred so-called serotypes among pneumococci. So far, practically the same vaccines have been used for children and adults. Over time, they covered more and more serotypes. This can be more than 60 percent in children up to five years of age (invasive pneumococcal infection), and even over 70 percent in adults.
But now a new so-called conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PCV21) is supposed to come, which is specifically intended for adults. "The vaccine contains eight serotypes that are currently not included in any licensed vaccine and are associated with pneumococcal diseases in adults," the expert explained. On the further horizon, however, additional options are emerging: pneumococcal vaccines that are supposed to protect against 24 or even 31 types of pathogens - and finally, one of the goals of science is a universal pneumococcal vaccine.
New Vaccines Against Meningococcal and Chikungunya Virus
A "Men ABCWY" vaccine, which was approved by the EMA in September last year for people aged ten and over, is expected to generate more interest than the somewhat complicated previous vaccination strategies against meningococcal, due to fewer injections required. Previously, two vaccinations (Meningitis B and ACWY) were necessary to achieve the same level of protection.
New for travellers is a potential protection against the Chikungunya virus infection, which is mainly transmitted by mosquitoes in (sub)tropical regions. However, transmissions have also occurred in Italy and France in recent years.
"The bent walker" - this is the translation of the name of the disease or its pathogen, originally identified in Tanzania, and it comes from the symptoms: While about half of the affected people are completely healthy again after a month, on the other hand, about a quarter of patients may still have chronic joint complaints even after a year.
Since July of last year, VLA1553, a protective vaccine from the French-Austrian company Valneva, has been approved by the EU Medicines Agency. It is based on attenuated Chikungunya viruses. The Austrian vaccination plan recommends the vaccine as a travel vaccination for people who are travelling to affected regions and are over 18 years old, depending on the infection risk at the respective destinations. A Chikungunya inactivated vaccine is also still in the approval process. This could further broaden the possibilities for protection.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.