Vaccine guidelines growing more complex
Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Sun Jul 30, 12:25 PM ET
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The key quote comes from Dr. Anne Schuchat, the Director of the National Immunization Program,
“The good news is we can now prevent so many diseases.
The bad news is it’s gotten more complicated”
Indeed, the number of recommended vaccines is expected to increase from 12 to 13, albeit only for girls (the 13th is a vaccine against cervical cancer).
Merely tracking the immunization histories of children and adolescents has become a complex logistical undertaking for parents, clinicians, and government. Understanding even the rudiments of the scientific underpinnings and the clinical ramifications of the vaccines may already have grown too difficult a task for the majority of the public.
And, an inevitable result of treatment processes becoming more complicated is the increased risk that patients will not be able to comply with those treatments..
Adherence to the recommended vaccine schedule is also threatened by other issues:
- The cost of all recommended vaccines has increased from $100 to $1250 in the past 20 years [tag]cost[/tag]
- Because immunized people may still be susceptible to outbreaks of disease, booster shots are more frequently recommended
- Specific vaccines experience sporadic shortages
- Changes in official vaccination recommendations change unpredictably and are often not systematically or effectively communicated to the public
Commentary
Compliance isn’t possible unless a treatment plan is understood.
Paradoxically, an advance in healthcare, the development of new, effective vaccines, renders adherence to these preventive programs increasingly difficult and unlikely. It may well be that the next significant quantum improvement in public health will be the result not of yet another vaccine but a solution to the information management conundrum, such as a centralized, electronic health information system.