● Info on Preventive Vaccines for Adults All in One Place SK chemicals Holds Adult Vaccine Program Symposium

- Medical practitioners across the nation share adult infectious disease information like Japanese encephalitis and encephalomeningitis
- "We will campaign for the importance of adult vaccination to wider audiences through academic events"



SK chemicals organized an event to share the latest academic information on vaccines so that more adults can get vaccinated to prevent serious conditions like encephalitis.

The company held the "Adult Vaccine Program" Symposium on May 25 at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, with about 200 specialists in internal medicine, family medicine, and OB/GYN in attendance.

Intended to share information on vaccines needed for adults, the event was held in Daejeon on April 19 to Gwangju, Incheon, Daegu, Busan and Seoul.

In six rounds of the symposium, as many as 1,000 medical practitioners discussed medical issues like the efficacy and safety of live vaccines for Japanese encephalitis, progress details of meningococcal encephalomeningitis, the disease profile of whooping cough for adults, and the need for 4-strain flu vaccine.

In particular, in-depth discussions were made about Japanese encephalitis whose incidence rate has rapidly increased over the past few years and meningococcal encephalomeningitis with an alarmingly high rate of mortality.

In the case of Japanese encephalitis, the incidence rate for those born before 1985 has increased sharply of late since the government began vaccinating children born after that year as part of the national preventive vaccination program. Last year for example, as many as 93 percent of Japanese encephalitis incidents were for those aged over 40. In Korea, "Imojev" won approval for adult vaccination.

Prof. Lee Jae-gab, infectious disease specialist at Hallym University Medical Center and a speaker at the symposium, said, "In the case of Japanese encephalitis, there is no other way to treat it except prevention through vaccines. Given that the incidence of the disease has lately been concentrated in those patient groups over 40, it is urgently needed to focus on prevention for the middle-aged population group."

Regarding meningococcal infection, he continued, "As many as 700,000 incidents were reported in the past 10 years across the world and the mortality rate was 10 percent." He also mentioned the prognosis of the disease and the efficacy of the vaccine.

He added, "Meningococcal encephalomeningitis is a highly dangerous disease in that one in ten patients may end up dying even when they are treated in time. Among survivors, 20 percent have to undergo limb amputation or suffer neurological disorders, which highlight the need for preventive measures." Those population groups particularly vulnerable to meningococcal infections are those traveling frequently to overseas locations so vaccination is a high priority for them.

"Menactra," the injectable vaccine for meningococcal encephalomeningitis marketed by Sanofi Pasteur and SK chemicals, is known to effectively prevent four kinds of meningococcus including serotype A meningococcus whose incidence rate is especially high in Asia, including China. The medical practitioners who took part in the symposium said the event was highly satisfactory in that they received so much important information on adult infectious diseases.

Lee Myung-hee, advisor to the Korean Physicians` Association who presided over the symposium, said, "For adults, vaccination rates are very low, with such a small size of the market compared to that for children. For this reason practitioners don`t take this market seriously and neglect to advise their adult patients to take vaccines. From the "Adult Vaccine Program" Symposium, the attendees could learn a lot about the dangers of rapidly increasing diseases like Japanese encephalitis and encephalomeningitis and the need for vaccination."

An SK chemicals official said, "Adults who travel a lot and come in contact with a lot of people across the world tend to have a higher incidence of infectious diseases or be more vulnerable to viruses. We will make sure to campaign for the importance of adult vaccination to wider audiences."



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Photo Caption: Medical practitioners in the Seoul metropolitan area gathered in the AVP Symposium held at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul on May 25