How do pandemics come about, how can they be prevented and what have we learnt from the coronavirus pandemic?
A pandemic is a global epidemic that emerges unexpectedly. Pandemics start with a microbe – usually a virus – that originates from somewhere in the animal kingdom and transfers to a human that is in close contact with the animal.
The introduction of a digital vaccination card is making progress. In January, a vaccination section was opened in the My Kanta Pages of the Kanta Service, which is intended to be developed into a comprehensive database of all vaccines received. The database will be a digital vaccination card for citizens, and it is planned to replace paper certificates.
In the Rokotustieto.fi guest blog, Mika Rämet, Director of Tampere University’s Vaccine Research Center, explains the factors that have an impact on establishing a vaccination coverage that is sufficient to achieve herd immunity.
I am often asked how high vaccination coverage should be in order to establish herd immunity. I dodge the question just as often by saying that there is no precise figure to give. The higher the vaccination coverage, the easier it is to suppress an epidemic.
Vaccines to protect against coronavirus are being developed around the world. Development work has proceeded at a record pace and several marketing authorisation reviews are currently being conducted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The first vaccine is expected to receive marketing authorisation in Finland before the end of the year.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has started the rolling review procedure on a fourth coronavirus vaccine candidate. The quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are assessed with the same criteria as in the normal marketing authorisation process.
The majority of municipalities started offering influenza vaccinations in the beginning of November. Getting vaccinated is now especially important during the coronavirus pandemic, as the combination of influenza and coronavirus increases the risk of becoming seriously ill.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has started the rolling review procedure on two coronavirus vaccine candidates. A rolling review is a tool that can be used to speed up the marketing authorisation process of promising vaccines during a pandemic, for example.
The coronavirus situation has reduced visits to maternity and child health clinics. When the coronavirus-related restrictions came into force, staff in many municipalities were transferred from preventive services for children and families to other tasks. The provision of maternity and child health clinic services was limited to pregnant women and infants.
At the beginning of April, maternity clinic visits had fallen by 27 per cent and child health clinic visits had fallen by 45 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has approved the inclusion of the HPV vaccine for boys into the National Immunisation Programme. Thus, HPV vaccinations will be given to the entire age group from now on. Vaccinations for boys could begin in August 2020.
According to the Immunisation Programme, HPV vaccinations would start in the 5th grade of comprehensive school, i.e. the recommended target group is 11–12-year-olds. Booster vaccinations should also be offered to boys in grades 7–9 during the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 school years.
World Immunization Week – celebrated in the last week of April (24 to 30 April) – aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. Immunization saves millions of lives every year and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions. Yet, there are still nearly 20 million children in the world today who are not getting the vaccines they need.
Tick-borne encephalitis is a brain inflammation caused by the TBE virus that is transmitted through a tick bite. It can cause fever, vague nausea and a feeling of sickness for about a week, after which less than a third of affected people get the actual brain inflammation after a week without fever. Treatment of brain inflammation may require hospitalisation and may cause long-term neurological complications.
Vaccines are one of the greatest achievements in medicine. Anu Kantele, Professor of Infectious Diseases at MeVac, the Meilahti Vaccine Research Center of Helsinki University Hospital tells about vaccine development.
Finding out which vaccinations you need a couple of months before you travel is an important part of preparing for your trip. Every traveller should ensure that their vaccinations in the National Immunisation Programme are up to date. The need for other vaccinations depends on the age and state of health of the traveller as well as the destination, duration and nature of the trip. For example, the influenza vaccination is recommended for people in risk groups, and some countries require visitors to show a yellow fever vaccination certificate on arrival.
According to information in the national vaccination register, almost all school-aged children are protected against chickenpox, but there is still room for improvement in the vaccinations of the youngest children. Almost one in five 1.5-year-olds had not been vaccinated over the years 2017-2019.
Chickenpox (also known as varicella) is highly contagious and without the vaccination almost everyone will get the disease. The most typical symptoms are blisters and fever lasting approximately 5 to 7 days.
The influenza epidemic has not yet begun in Finland, but some individual influenza A and B cases have been reported to the National Infectious Diseases Register.
HPV, or human papilloma virus, causes several cancers. It causes infections on the skin and the genitals, and some of the symptomless genital HPV infections develop into cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis and anus. HPV can also cause cancers in the head and neck area.
The HPV vaccine helps to prevent cervical cancer and its precancerous conditions. In addition, it can prevent some cancers of the vagina and vulva, of the head and neck area and the anus. The vaccination is most effective when it is given before the individual is sexually active.
Hepatitis, or liver infection, is the biggest killer after tuberculosis and nine times more prevalent than HIV. Hepatitis A and B are preventable with immunisation.
