Adult vaccination

Abstract

Vaccination of children has had a major impact on the morbidity and mortality of many infectious diseases globally. However, with age, immune responses to vaccines can be less robust, which can be further enhanced by underlying diseases that are common in the older adult. In many countries around the globe booster vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are recommended for adults. For the older adult, vaccination against pneumococcal diseases, influenza and herpes zoster are also recommended. Despite these recommendations, the widespread use of these vaccines in the adult population clearly lags behind the vaccine uptake and successes documented for pediatric vaccination programs. Furthermore, extensive and sometimes inappropriate use of antibiotics have fostered the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (e.g., methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) as well as increased susceptibility in the elderly to bacterial species such as Clostridium difficile. Infectious diseases remain an important unmet medical need and new concepts to successfully implement vaccination of adults are urgently needed.

Keywords: :

• vaccine
• infectious disease
• pneumococcal disease
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Clostridium difficile

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

All authors are employees of Pfizer and may own Pfizer stock.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following employees of Pfizer for their insightful comments for this manuscript (Emilio Emini, Ingrid Scully and Paul Liberator), and for documentation assistance (Christina Regan and Jessica Brigham).