Vaccination calendar of Catalonia 2016

Abstract The systematic vaccination calendar is a fundamental public health tool for the control of vaccine-preventable diseases, which benefits the entire population, both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons, equally. The vaccines used in the calendar, except tetanus, protect against diseases that are spread from person to person. Thus, when a critical number of immune persons is achieved (different for each disease), transmission is hindered due to the immunity phenomenon of group, since it reduces the risk of contracting the disease, even in people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. In addition, it also contributes to the elimination (for example, poliomyelitis in Europe) and, even, to the eradication (for example, that of smallpox) of diseases preventable by vaccination. This article presents the Calendar of Systematic Vaccinations of Catalonia 2016. This is the fourteenth calendar for Catalonia since the first one was published in 1980 when the public health competences were assumed. Although vaccination is the responsibility of the autonomous communities, for years efforts have been made to harmonise the recommendations in the different communities, which culminated with the agreement adopted in January 2016 by the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System to establish a common calendar of vaccinations as of January 2017, which, in some communities such as Catalonia, was already applied during 2016. The calendar of Catalonia adopts all the recommendations of the common calendar. It also includes vaccination against hepatitis A, and systematic vaccinations for the adult population. The 2016 calendar protects against 15 diseases. The main novelties are the simplification of the vaccination scheme in the first year of life, with the use of hexavalent with a 2 + 1 vaccination schedule, the incorporation of the vaccination of the pneumococcal vaccination in the first year of life, and the vaccine against chickenpox at 15 months and 3 years.