Valladolid will focus national news on vaccines

In a year, Valladolid will become the capital of discussion on innovations and challenges of vaccines, as well as advances in the field of immunization. This will be done with the help of the Spanish Association of Vaccinologists, which has just agreed at its last congress in Malaga that Valladolid will host its XII Symposium. At the end of October 2025, the city will host more than 350 experts who will analyze and scientifically discuss the latest developments in public health tools that have proven to be the best weapons against infectious diseases, especially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was told to Ikalu, President of the Scientific and Organizing Committee of the Symposium, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University of Valladolid (UVa) and Head of the Preventive Medicine Service of the University Teaching Hospital José Javier Castrodesa: who already has the support of the Department of Health and the City Council and who will promote this event through its Preventive Medicine team, the Microbiology Service and in collaboration with the city’s National Influenza Centre. And it will come at a key moment in the progress of vaccinations and in a scenario in which experts demand that vaccination become a healthy lifestyle habit, just like exercising and maintaining a healthy and balanced diet.

The event in Valladolid, which will replace Palma de Mallorca, will be an important moment, taking into account the latest vaccination strategies and new sera awaiting approval, such as the Spanish Hipra vaccine against Covid-19, which the European Medicines Agency (European Medicines Agency) medicinal products) EMA) recommended the issuance of a marketing authorization.

“The knowledge of vaccines will be very active, they are constantly very alive, there is a lot of interest in the scientific field, in international organizations, because they continue to be a decisive element in the prevention of diseases,” Castrodesa Ikalu said. ., “and not only vaccines from the field of infectious diseases, vaccines against other types of oncological processes, for example, are increasingly appearing.”

New strategies

“There are lines beyond vaccines that we could say about classic diseases, as we know, well, I don’t know, influenza, Covid-19, measles, rubella… More and more companies and research are looking for solutions to infections caused by other types of microorganisms, which is very important for those of us who work in hospital settings,” he noted. He gave the example caused by the bacterium Clostridioides difficile, which is the most common nosocomial gastrointestinal tract infection and the most common cause of acute diarrhea in hospitalized patients in Spain, and multidrug-resistant microorganisms.

“It is true that these are not vaccines that many people need, but they are vaccines that would greatly help prevent the processes of treating hospital infections that make our lives very difficult and, above all, make it very difficult for patients when they come for medical surgery process to be treated in hospital centers,” he added. The symposium will allow us to delve deeper into other vaccines, such as pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines, influenza or passive immunization of infants against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) through mothers during pregnancy, as recently suggested by the World Health Organization.

Multidisciplinary appointment

The event will bring together prevention specialists, as well as other experts and specialists closely associated with vaccines, such as pediatricians, nurses, oncologists, rheumatologists, dermatologists, internists and others. “These are transversal drugs that can be used in different areas. It is true that preventive medicine and public health specialists are always the most qualified to work with this type of product, and we are the ones who have departments authorized for the processes. But, logically, it is a very end-to-end process that enriches the decision-making process much more. The more professionals we have in the debate, the better,” he said.

“Valladolid has good transport links, it has good hotel services. It is true that on these dates we have to be careful, because Seminci also… We prepare it with all the love and enthusiasm, because Valladolid is a very Attractive place: “People like to come, it is a city that has an important scientific center , an important structure,” concluded the President of the Scientific Committee.