Pediatric vaccinations are flying in Tuscany. Against polio, whooping cough and measles, parents return to protecting their children, causing the coverage rate of newborns to reach record levels. The great fear expressed in recent years – including prejudices, exaggerations and false information – seems to be behind us: the hexavalent (polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis B, haemophilus B) reaches a coverage of 97.7 percent, almost three points above the crucial threshold of 95%, considered the target for effective flock coverage. The trivalent (measles, mumps, rubella) also performed well, rising by two points in a year to reach 97.3%, while the anti-chickenpox – which is often, but not always, done with the trivalent – reaches 96 .4%, exceeding the 95% threshold for the first time. Historic milestone also achieved for anti-pneumococcal, which reaches 95.2%.
The turning point after fear
Comforting numbers, which represent the result of a long series of events that have spanned the last ten years: in 2015 the lowest coverage in history was recorded, after in the previous autumn the hoax of false deaths generated by the Fluad anti-flu vaccine caused many families lose faith in these prevention tools. So much so that the nine vaccinations required at the time fell below the herd coverage threshold. Since 2018, the vaccination obligation imposed by the Minister of Health Beatrice Lorenzin and subsequently the regional law of the councilor Stefania Saccardi, brought the coverage curve upwards. Then came the Covid parenthesis, with the enormous controversy over the alleged danger of the new vaccines and with the many anti-vax demonstrations that seemed to have dug a new furrow between science and the population. This was not the case: once the pandemic was over – a period in which the possibility of accessing the healthcare system was conditioned by lockdowns and red zones and by the fear of many to go to clinics and hospitals – the numbers began to rise again. In a sensational way.
Meningitis and papilloma
Perhaps the two most striking data concern vaccinations to prevent meningitis and papilloma virus: in the case of antimeningococcal C, the 2023 data which reached 92.9% coverage is even higher than that of 2015 (90.9%) , when the Tuscany Region organized an ad hoc campaign due to numerous outbreaks that spread throughout the territory and the fear of the disease also pushed adults to immunize themselves. As for the anti-HPV, a vaccine whose promotion campaigns are very recent, today for both females and males, in just one year it has made a leap of more than 5% for females and more than 9% for males, reaching 74.6% and 66.6% respectively for the first dose. A trend that gives rise to hope. Also because, as authoritative scientists have repeatedly illustrated, a high roof guarantees more safety not only from the possibility of contracting a disease (in particular for those who, for health reasons, cannot get vaccinated and must rely on the immunization of those around them), but also from adverse events: between 2015 and 2016, when the hexavalent fell below the 95% threshold, many feared the risk of polio returning and, therefore, feared the possibility that from the current Salk vaccine we might have to go back to the old one Sabinmore powerful but also more dangerous for children’s health.
From the regional health department, in a note, comes a very positive comment on the new numbers: «These data demonstrate one growth in attention towards prevention and vaccination. Free choice paediatricians, general practitioners together with local health authority professionals have a key role in contributing to building a culture of prevention and protecting collective health and the Tuscany Region would like to thank them.”
