Suchergebnisse

Over the last 5 years, a number of outbreaks of measles have occurred in several European Union (EU) countries. Many of these outbreaks continue and/or continued for more than 1 year after the notification of the first case. Curiously in many of measles outbreaks about 10% of the patients were less than 12 months of age. All these patients according to the current EU countries vaccination calendars were not yet vaccinated against measles. Based on the results of measles outbreaks, especially age of affected patients, we should consider changing measles vaccination schedules in all EU countries. Most of mothers between 30 and 40 years of age are not vaccinated against measles, and many of them are not naturally immune against measles. These mothers do not pose antibodies against measles and in turn do not provide vertical protection for their infants. In conclusion, administrating the first dose of measles vaccine in the EU countries should be considered before 12 months of age, most probably at 9 months of age.

Over the last years medicine has progressed very rapidly. Communicable diseases, which were the leading causes of mortalities, are not anymore, especially in developed countries. Currently, non-communicable diseases are more prevalent, and most of them are related to changes in our daily habits and degenerative processes. Most of these diseases are chronic, need continuous care and treatment with limited improvement and high costs. The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 65/238 recognized the primary role and responsibility of Governments in responding to the challenge of noncommunicable diseases and the essential need for the efforts and engagement of all sectors of society to generate an effective response. Special emphasis has been concentrated on pharmacological treatments for most of chronic non-communicable diseases with the challenge to discover new drugs for treating, in most cases, chronic irreversible degenerative diseases associated with aging. Little care was given to non-pharmacological lines of treatment.