Content:
- Editorial
- Higher incidence of varicella in the Czech Republic after nationwide pandemic preventive measures against COVID-19 – Veronika Šponiar Ovesná, Renata Ciupek, Jan Smetana
- Vaccination against pneumococcal infections of clients of social services facilities – Renata Ciupek
- Tularemia, Francisella tularensis, and live vaccine strain LVS – Aleš Macela
- The sentiments of texts about vaccination and its influence on lay decision-making – Jiří Mareš
- Dengue fever – a frequent imported infection even in the Czech Republic – Šárka Rumlarová, Pavel Kosina
- Monkeypox – Vanda Boštíková
- Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine no longer available in USA – Vanda Boštíková
Editorial
Vážení čtenáři, kolegové a kolegyně,
rok se s rokem sešel a opět proběhla tradiční výroční vakcinologická konference, již XVIII. hradecké vakcinologické dny. Řada odborných přednášek obsáhla prakticky celé spektrum praktické vakcinologie, i když letošní ročník se dominantně nesl v duchu představení nových vakcín proti RS virům a vícevalentních vakcín proti pneumokokovým onemocněním. Diskutována byla detailně také jednotlivá doporučení, která ČVS ČLS JEP vydává. Konference byla vítanou platformou pro odborné diskuze o různých tématech včetně možných řešení aktuálních problémů.
Podzim je také dobou, kdy se s plnou silou objevují respirační infekce. Podle laboratorních vyšetřování se zdá, že zatím dominují rinoviry a chřipka je téměř v nedohlednu, ale covid-19 se opět hlásí o slovo. Počet nově zjištěných pozitivit již přesáhl 1 200 za den a máme více než 350 hospitalizovaných. Covid nás již asi neopustí a zůstane s námi jako jeden z respiračních patogenů.
Trochu v šoku jsem zhlédl rozhovor s profesorem Turánkem. Ten opakovaně přirovnal očkování mRNA vakcínami k eutanázii. Pokud by snad i některému z čtenářů časopisu Vakcinologie nebyl zcela jasný pojem eutanázie, připomínám, že se v kontextu lékařské péče jedná o usmrcení či ponechání zemřít pacienta lékařem, jenž tak koná v pacientův prospěch. Pokud měl profesor Turánek na mysli nedobrovolnou eutanázii, hovořil vlastně o vraždě.
V poslední době se často setkáváme s naprosto polárními, nesnášenlivými názory, které bohužel vůbec nekorespondují s realitou a přispívají k současné nesmiřitelné společenské rozdělenosti. Přeji všem, aby si zachovali zdravý rozum a byli schopni posuzovat předkládaná data alespoň s elementární mírou objektivity.
Za redakční radu prof. MUDr. Roman Prymula, CSc., Ph.D.
Higher incidence of varicella in the Czech Republic after nationwide pandemic preventive measures against COVID-19
Summary:
Introduction: Pandemic preventive measures to reduce the transmission SARS-CoV-2 in the period from March 2020 to March 2022 resulted in a decreased incidence of many infectious diseases. The end of the measures during 2022 lead to an increase in varicella incidence. This work aimed to assess occurence of varicella in the Czech Republic in 2022 and over the last 4 years considering the significant impact of the pandemic preventive measures on varicella incidence.
Material and Methods: The information about varicella cases in the Czech republic were collected from the Information System of Infectious Disesases and National Institute of Public Health publications. Data from 1995–2022 were used to analyse the long-term trend of the varicella incidence.
Results: In 2022, 57 054 cases (530 cases per 100 000) of varicella were reported in the Czech Republic. It was the highest number of cases in the Czech Republic since 1995. The incidence increased in 2022 by 20,7 % compared to 2019 (the last year without pandemic preventive measures) and by 30,6 % compared to the average incidence from 1995–2019. The significant decrease in the varicella incidence was observed with the measures in place over 2020–2021, by 58,7 % in 2020 and by 75,6 % in 2021 compared to the average incidence. There was observed a slight shift of the varicella cases to higher age in children in 2022 – increase in the number of cases in the 5–9 year olds from 39,5 %, in 2019 to 47,3 % in 2022 and decrease in the 1–4 year olds from 50,4 % in 2019 to 43,7 % in 2022. Complications in varicella cases were reported in 0,2–0,3 %, hospitalization in 0,6–1 %. The highest complication rate (25 %) as well as hospitalization rate (50 %) was recognised in the age over 75 years. In terms of seasonality, the varicella incidence did not reach the average numbers in 2020 nor 2021, then a dramatic increase of the incidence ocurred in 2022 peaked in June.
Conclusion: Pandemic preventive measures, decreased children immunity by recovering varicella at a lower age and susceptibility shift to a higher age lead to slight shift of the varicella cases to higher age in children – the incidence maximum was in the 5–9 year olds in 2022, despite the highest incidence always in the 1–4 year olds in previous years. Neither occurence of complications nor hospitalization rate were affected by the pandemic preventive measures or subsequent increased incidence. The elderly were at the highest risk of complication and hospitalization. Usual seasonal pattern was disrupted in recent years. The instrument for varicella prevention and burden reduction is vaccination.
Keywords:
varicella, incidence, susceptibility, covid-19
Veronika Šponiar Ovesná,1,2 Renata Ciupek,1 Jan Smetana2
1Krajská hygienická stanice Jihomoravského kraje se sídlem v Brně
2Katedra epidemiologie, Fakulta vojenského zdravotnictví, Univerzita obrany
Vaccination against pneumococcal infections of clients of social services facilities
Summary:
Pneumococcal infections are still a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the adult population, especially people over 65 years of age. With increasing age, numbers of risk factors and at the same time immune competence decreases, therefore the risk of infection and serious course of the disease increases. There is also an increase in antibiotic resistance in pneumococci, the consequences of which bring an ever-increasing risk to patients and a significant burden on the healthcare system. Therefore, achieving the highest possible vaccination coverage of this vulnerable population is becoming more and more important. These mainly include clients of social service facilities, for whom preventive vaccination has been available in the Czech Republic for more than 20 years.
Monitoring of the vaccination coverage of clients of social service facilities in the Czech Republic took place systematically in the years 2012–2014, 2016, and 2018–2021 in the form of national tasks of the Ministry of Health for regional public health authorities. The Regional public health authority of the South Moravian Region, based in Brno, continued this monitoring in 2022.
This paper presents the results of vaccination checks of pneumococcal infections among clients of social service facilities in the South Moravian Region. Results show shortcomings in vaccination in this vulnerable population group. The level of vaccination coverage fluctuates, in recent years there has even been a decrease due to external circumstances.
Keywords:
invasive pneumococcal disease, vaccination, elderly population, social service facilities
Renata Ciupek
Krajská hygienická stanice Jihomoravského kraje, Brno
Tularemia, Francisella tularensis, and live vaccine strain LVS
Summary:
Tularemia is a zoonotic disease widespread throughout the northern hemisphere. The etiological agent of tularemia is the gram-negative coccobacillus Francisella tularensis. It is a facultative intracellular pathogen causing severe disease of various clinical forms, against which there is no inactivated or live vaccine available. Various attenuated strains of Francisella tularensis were prepared, in terms of protection, the most promising was the live vaccine strain of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica called LVS prepared in Fort Detrick in USA. Even that, however, is not licensed for normal use in humans. This brief review provides basic information about tularemia, its etiologic agent, and a brief outline of attempts to develop a protection-inducing vaccine.
Keywords:
Tularemia, Francisella tularensis, live vaccine strain, innate immunity, adaptive immunity
Aleš Macela
Univerzita obrany, Fakulta vojenského zdravotnictví, Hradec Králové
The sentiments of texts about vaccination and its influence on lay decision-making
Summary:
This review article presents a psychological view of texts, pictures, photographs devoted to vaccination. They appear on social networks both in the Czech Republic and abroad. The materials are addressed to the general public. The researchers ask the question: Is it possible to accurately determine whether these materials are created and published in an attempt to evoke emotions in the lay public that will lead to a favourable or, on the contrary, a negative attitude towards vaccination? To date, cognitive and behavioural attitudes of lay people towards vaccination have been investigated. Emotional aspects have only recently begun to be studied. Emotional aspects of texts on vaccination (the term sentiments is used in English) are usually divided into three categories: positive, neutral, negative. However, it will be necessary to work with more subtle shades of emotion. Research shows that there are significant differences in the sentiments of vaccination texts between the countries studied, but in no country did negative attitudes towards vaccination predominate. Data of this type provide feedback to health professionals for their responses and allow them to track dynamic changes in attitudes in entire populations.
Keywords:
vaccination, social media texts, sentiments of texts, research
Jiří Mareš
Ústav preventivního lékařství, Lékařská fakulta UK v Hradci Králové
Dengue fever – a frequent imported infection even in the Czech Republic
Summary:
Dengue fever is an acute febrile illness with a rash and muscle and joint pain. The disease is caused by an RNA virus from the genus Flavivirus, which occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical zones. Tourists can bring the disease when returning from an endemic area, so it is necessary to think about this disease and diagnose it in time. Specific therapy is not yet known; two live attenuated vaccines against this infection are newly registered.
Keywords:
dengue, imported infections, flaviviruses, fever
Šárka Rumlarová, Pavel Kosina
Klinika infekčních nemocí, Fakultní nemocnice a Lékařská fakulta UK v Hradci Králové
Monkeypox
Summary
In recent months, there have been significant concerns about the emergence of the human monkeypox virus. The clinical picture of this disease is similar in many ways to that of smallpox. However, the course of the disease is generally less severe, with significantly lower mortality and scarification. The frequency and geographical distribution of the disease has increased significantly in recent times, both in West and Central Africa. The majority of laboratory-confirmed cases involve persons younger than 40 years of age.
Keywords:
Mpox, monkeypox, smallpox, vaccination, ways of transmission, Africa
Vanda Boštíková
Katedra epidemiologie, Fakulta vojenského zdravotnictví, Univerzita obrany, Hradec Králové
Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine no longer available in USA
Summary:
Federal coronavirus emergency declarations ended second week of May 2023 after more than three years. Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine will no longer be offered in US physicians’ offices. A number of anti-epidemic measures remain active after the end of the emergency.
Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, vaccines, emergency declaration, antiepidemic measures
Vanda Boštíková
Katedra epidemiologie, Fakulta vojenského zdravotnictví, Univerzita obrany, Hradec Králové