The European Immunization Week begins – News

Prof. Ani Kevorkyan, head of the “Epidemiology and Medicine of Disaster Situations” department, announced this for the “Exactly Today” program.

She specified that at the end of the seminar there will be a quiz with questions related to vaccines and the three best performing students will receive prizes, and all others will receive a certificate of participation.

The initiative to organize a seminar dedicated to the European Immunization Week at the Medical University of Plovdiv was taken in 2016 by Prof. Yordanka Stoilova and Prof. Ani Kevorkyan, head of the Department of Epidemiology and MBS and Prof. Radka Komitova, Department of Infectious Diseases, Parasitology and tropical medicine.

For the first time in 2005, the World Health Organization launched an initiative in the last week of April, dedicated to immunizations, with the aim of increasing the awareness of the public and medical professionals about the benefits of vaccines.

Prof. Kevorkyan recalled that this year, within the framework of the initiative, the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Expanded Program on Immunizations will be celebrated, thanks to which smallpox was eradicated in the world, the incidence of poliomyelitis decreased by 99%, a number of diseases are in the stage of elimination in certain regions. National programs have been introduced to prevent and limit a number of infectious diseases.

For this reason, European Immunization Week will celebrate the program’s achievements in protecting several generations of people from serious vaccine-preventable diseases.

The campaign will also highlight the urgent need for higher, equitable and uniform vaccination coverage in all communities to avoid new outbreaks of diseases for which immunizations are available.

Along with the achievements, anti-vaccine attitudes have emerged in society, which indicates the need for a wider presentation of science-based information about what has been achieved in the field of public health after the introduction of vaccine prevention.

“For the whole year 2023, there were 20 cases of whooping cough in the country, and since the beginning of this year, the cases are close to 250, said Prof. Ani Kevorkyan. This happens despite the high level of vaccination at the earliest age. She specified that the incidence in a number of European countries, including in our country, is growing.

Prof. Kevorkian, who is also the main coordinator of the National Expert Council on Immunizations, added that there are orders to review which children are left out and to cover them as soon as possible. It also recommends immunizing pregnant women in the last trimester to build antibodies and protect the fetus in the first months after birth.

“The vaccine is the best prevention against highly contagious diseases such as measles and whooping cough,” said Prof. Kevorkian.