FA16 Immunization Module’s Updates

Vaccination of Immunocompromised Patients

The vaccination of immunocompromised patients is a topic of importance when considereing the many facets of immunization. Vaccination may be ineffective for patients with certian immunodeficiencies, or it simply may not be safe for them to receive vaccinations. 

Patients with immunodeficiencies that are extremely severe, such as in the case of organ transplant recipients, patients undergoing chemotherapy, patients suffering from a congenital immunodeficiency such as SCID, or patients with AIDS, absolutely cannot receive live attenuated vaccines. When a healthy person receives the varicella vaccine, for example, while the virus can replicate, it is very rarely pathogenic. However, in a person without an immune response to the virus, disease can and likely will occur in an uncontrollable maner. Killed or inactivated vaccines are still recommended for pateints with immunodeficiencies, but are not likley to be as effective. Because immunization functions via active immunity, if a patient's immune system is so severely compromised that it is unable to mount a response that will eventually lead to the activation of mature terminally differentiated plasma cells that can produce and secrete antibody, the vaccination will not confer immunity. Therefore, these patients often need a more boosters and higher doses of the vaccine. 

Due to the problems mentioned above, immunocompromised patients are at the mercy of herd immunity. Herd Immunity has been mentioned a couple of times throughout these updates, and I think that the concept is one that could be better utilized in health care's fight against the anti-vaccine movement. By giving people the benefit of the doubt, it is relatively safe to assume that when parents decide not to vaccinate, they are doing so with the mindset that they are protecting their children. It is unlikely that they even consider the idea that they are putting someone else's life or the life of someone else's child in danger. Below is a screenshot of an extremely effective simulation demonstrating the risk we face in unvaccinated populations. I highly recommend visiting the website and watching the actual simulation, but for now, the picture will suffice to make the point. In a community of unvaccinated individuals, disease spreads easily from person to person. Unfortunately, immunocompromised individuals fall into the categories of unvaccinated, or vaccinated but susceptible. Therefore, if they live among many others that are unvaccinated they are far more likely to fall ill. By vaccinating those around immunocompromised, such as family members, some protection is provided.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00023141.htm

Immunization PowerPoint - Dr. Tapping

  • Nereyda Ochoa
  • Neely Harris
  • Gabriel Swords