ABSTRACT
The development and usage of vaccines depend on the assessment of their benefits and risks, primarily by regulatory bodies as well as by physicians and patients. The immunization programs have helped to increase life expectancy, reduce parental fears of life-threatening childhood diseases, eradication of certain destructive epidemics from the community, and pecuniary savings by prevention of disabilities and diseases. Different types of vaccines are currently in use against various life-threatening diseases and those which have the potential of emerging in previously unaffected regions of the world. For certain globally infectious diseases like Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue, Influenza, Pneumonia, Rotaviral Gastroenteritis and Hepatitis B, effective human vaccines have already been developed, while for Gonorrhoea, Melioidosis and Tuberculosis (apart from the BCG vaccine) several effective vaccines are in development. Research advancements and most modern technologies are being applied in the development of several modern vaccines through the support of proteomics, genomics, comparative genomics, structural vaccinology, transcriptomics, mRNA based technologies and most recently vaccinomics. The rate of vaccine refusal or delay has been reported to increase in developed countries due to several reasons, leading to variation in vaccine coverage rates and reemergence of vaccinepreventable diseases. Use of combination vaccines increases vaccination rates, provide better coverage and timeliness of vaccination, improve the efficiency of healthcare practice, and reduce costs for the healthcare system. Veterinary vaccines are important for animal health and welfare, food production and public health by preventing animal diseases, reducing transmission of zoonotic and food borne infections to people and finally by enhancing the efficiency of food production. According to WHO, the pandemic COVID-19 is a serious threat to our health and well-being. Recently different countries have developed and are still developing several vaccines in order to combat this lifethreatening disease. Currently, while widespread vaccination is the only strategy that is effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19, questions remain about the degree and duration of protection that will be offered from the COVID-19 vaccines. Recent studies report the emergence of an anti-vaccination culture among public and its spread through social media, which consequently may result in reduction of herd immunity and the spread of infectious diseases. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The challenges to the care of hematological disordersin India is considerable;compounded by the huge population andinadequate resources for patient management. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has further affected healthcaredelivery in India. With the number of cases on the rise and with themajority of health care focused on fighting COVID-19;there is aconcern that care of non-COVID diseases could be affected. Thisimpact is likely more profound in patients with hematological diseases (both benign and malignant) given the immunosuppression dueto the disease and its treatment.Aims &Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify thetrend and challenges to non-COVID care in patients with hematological diseases at our academic setup.Materials &Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, prospective,descriptive study of hematology outpatient visits from October 1stthrough December 31, 2020. Patients visiting the service wereinterviewed face to face or contacted telephonically through a questionnaire with their responses recorded into a computer-based form. Atelephonic survey was done from March 1st to March 31, 2021 torecord status and vaccination. Institutional Ethics Committeeapproval was taken. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis.Result: A total of 505 patients were interviewed in this period. 15(2.9%) patients opted for teleconsultation. Baseline characteristic ofpatients attending our hematology service (Benign &MalignantHematology) are detailed in Table 1a. Patients consulted a median of2 centers before committing to their hematology care. Many [482(95.4%)] developed unrelated complaints for which the patients didnot opt for a consultation. There were 8 patients who tested positivefor COVID in this period. Three (37.5%) continued COVID care atour center and 5 in the government center. 158(31.3%) patientstransferred their hematology non-covid care from other centers to oursetup. The changes to clinical care are tabulated in Table 1b. Therewere 20 deaths in this period.Conclusions: In our analysis, transfer from the primary care providerwas the most common change in outpatient hematology practice.Despite a perception of compromise in care and vaccine hesitancy,most patients received the planned care and 25% received theirvaccination despite the data collected in the first months of vaccination. Deferral or discontinuation of treatment, investigations andtransfusions were very few.