World Health Day is celebrated on Monday (7), and coincidentally, Brazil also begins the National Flu Vaccination Campaign. The Ministry of Health’s goal is to immunize 90% of priority groups, such as children from 6 months to under 6, pregnant women and the elderly. This goal is essential, since last year, only 50.1% of the elderly were vaccinated against influenza, according to data from the Sivep-Grip Epidemiological Surveillance System.
Low vaccination coverage of 2024 brought serious consequences: Hospitalizations by severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by the flu increased 189% among the elderly, with a 157% jump in the deaths. The lethality rate reached 21.7%, one in five people over 60 hospitalized with complications of the disease, it could not resist.
“It is the first time in history that the percentage of elderly vaccinated against flu in our country was smaller than that of pregnant women and children. This had never happened. This was always the easiest group of vaccination adherence, but in 2024 this was reversed,” said Rosana Richtmann, infectologist at Emílio Ribas Institute, during an event held by Sanofi in late March. According to her, the flu virus can compromise various organs, cause systemic inflammation and facilitate bacterial infections, increasing the risk of fatal complications.
It is noteworthy that vaccination campaigns are directly linked to the longevity of the population.
A quantum leap for public health
Throughout the twentieth century, vaccines were responsible for a significant advance in the life expectancy of the world population. In addition to eradicating diseases such as smallpox, they also dramatically reduced the incidence of other serious infections such as polio, measles and meningitis. For the surgeon and researcher in regenerative medicine Andréia Antoniolli, this impact can be considered a watershed on the history of medicine. She recalls that many of these diseases have high contagion potential and others, albeit less transmitted, leave devastating sequelae.
According to Andréia, braking or eliminating these diseases was “a quantum leap in last century medicine,” since “the development of vaccines contributed, greatly, to the increase in life expectancy.” However, the doctor also stresses that the immune system, although highly sophisticated and capable of defending us at various levels, is today under pressure. Modern life habits contribute to their weakening.
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“Today there are life habits that lead to accelerated biological aging, subclinical chronic inflammation and intestinal dysbiosis, which weakens our soldiers and confuses our army,” he compares, referring to the functioning of the defenses of the human body.
When immune system ages
This process of decline in immunological function over time, called immunosiscence, compromises vaccination effectiveness precisely in those who need the most protection. This is where the potential of regenerative medicine comes in: by acting directly on cellular rejuvenation and functional restoration of the immune system, it can turn the way we prevent disease into elderly.
Andréia explains that stem cell-based therapies and the use of geroprotective compounds (substances with the ability to avoid or reverse cell aging) have been promising.
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“Regenerative medicine can enhance the effects of vaccines by restoring or improving the functions of the immune system, especially in the elderly,” he says. By rejuvenating the immune system, the body becomes more efficient in vaccination response and in defense against infections, even against cancer.
Andréia stresses that there are already studies that show a less effective immune response in older people, linked to changes in so -called germ centers, specialized structures within the lymphoid organs where high quality antibodies are produced.
“The effects dependent on age on the germ center response are reversible as long as the necessary cellular repairs are made in this cellular component that is committed to older individuals biologically,” he explained.
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Regenerative medicine also brings more resources to enhance the action of vaccines through biotechnology. One of the advances is the use of biomaterials to improve antigen delivery, for example, as well as other elements necessary for a good immune response.
“Regenerative medicine helps ‘fix’ our own immune system cells, but it can also use biotechnology as viral vectors to increase vaccine efficiency,” explains Andréia. Vectors used in immune engineering, as well as immunotherapies, can genetically modify T cells. Thus, it is possible to recognize and combat tumor cells or infectious agents more accurately.
She points out that the evolution of this technology has made these therapies safer, more specific and effective. With advances in regenerative medicine, the expert has the prospect that the response to vaccines is expanded and, perhaps, in some cases, until reducing the need for frequent immunization.
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Andréia’s main point is the strengthening of the immune system, as it should be seen as a health strategy and longevity.
“When we maintain the young and competent immune system, it can defend ourselves from infectious, inflammatory diseases and cancer. The focus, then, is to maintain the biological age less than chronological age, preserve our own stem cells with repair and regeneration and, consequently, a strong immune system,” he concluded.