The Andalusian public health has incorporated almost all of the vaccines of payment that the pediatric associations had asked to offer to childhood the best possible coverage against a wide range of serious illnesses. The inclusion of the pneumococcal vaccineknown by its trademark Prevenar, it occurred on 1 December 2016, when the PSOE was still in power in the Andalusian government. Already with the PP at the head of the Andalusian government, the regional executive approved the incorporation of the Nimenrix vaccine, which protects against meningococcus ACWY, from 1 January 2020.
And from December 2021 the families of the Andalusian children Babies aged 2, 4 and 15 months no longer have to pay for the meningitis B vaccine (Betxero).
Flu protection
the last two news in the calendar of free Andalusian vaccinations are that from 1 January next year all males born in 2011, who turn 12 in 2023, can be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, a vaccine indicated so far only for girls. Furthermore, since this fall, children aged 6 to 59 months have been included in the flu vaccination campaign as risk groupto try to stop the transmission of influenza in this inhabited center, which is the most infected and the one that transmits the virus the most, together with the elderly.
With the addition of all these vaccinestogether with those already existing, the children y teenagers Andalusians receive vaccination to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza b, pneumococcus, meningococcus B, meningococcus ACWY, measles, rubella, mumps, chicken pox, papillomavirus and influenza. In addition to the health benefit, which is the main one, the introduction of these last vaccines in the free calendar allows families to save more than a thousand euros per child in vaccines.
The vice president of Pediatric Society of Western Andalusia and ExtremaduraRafael Sánchez, stresses that the only vaccine already paid for in Andalusia is that against rotavirus, which prevents severe diarrhea, especially in early childhood.
Regarding the recent approval of the papillomavirus (VHP) vaccine for boys turning 12 in 2023, this pediatrician points out that if its application in women seeks to avoid serious diseases such as cancer of the cervix, in the male population what is meant is that it is on an equal footing with the female group in preventing the virus and reducing transmission. The inclusion of the papillomavirus vaccine for children in the free vaccinations calendar of Andalusia, the region is on the same level as Valencia, Catalonia or Galicia. The Public Health Commission, which includes all regions, approved the inclusion of this vaccine for 12-year-olds in all communities between now and 2024 on Thursday.
The potential beneficiaries of this papillomavirus vaccine will be more than 4,200 children from Córdoba and about 47,000 Andalusians born in 2011. The most frequent diseases linked to the spread of HPV are precancerous genital lesions (cervix and vaginal), precancerous anal lesions, cancer and anal cancer and genital warts.
The benefits
In Australia, which for a decade has been vaccinating children with VHP, cases of papilloma virus and genital warts have decreased, points out Rafael Sánchez. This pediatrician emphasizes the benefits of vaccines. “Thanks to these preventive treatments, in 42 years that I am a doctor I have not had to treat, for example, a case of poliomyelitis or diphtheria, because for decades I have been vaccinated against numerous viruses and bacteria”, underlines this pediatrician.
Amparo Gracia, coordinator of the vaccine and infectious group from Pediatric Society from Basic health care, highlights the high efficacy of vaccines in general, including the papilloma vaccine that 12-year-olds will start receiving. “As long as a child is helped to avoid suffering from, for example, meningitis with severe sequelae, it will be worth vaccinating,” she says. Furthermore, ‘it is advisable to obtain full doses of each vaccine to increase immunization. In this regard, in Cordoba and in Andalusia there is good vaccination coverage, because families accept that their children are vaccinated and a great job has been done, including by the nursing care, to increase coverage “, adds this pediatrician.
