Rev Esp Quimioter 2020; 33(5): 327-349

The situation of infection in the elderly in Spain: a multidisciplinary opinion document

EMILIO BOUZA, FRANCISCO JOSÉ BRENES, JAVIER DÍEZ DOMINGO, JOSÉ MARÍA EIROS BOUZA, JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ, DIEGO GRACIA, RICARDO JUÁREZ GONZÁLEZ, PATRICIA MUÑOZ, ROBERTO PETIDIER TORREGROSSA, JOSÉ MANUEL RIBERA CASADO, PRIMITIVO RAMOS CORDERO, EDUARDO RODRÍGUEZ ROVIRA, MARÍA EVA SÁEZ TORRALBA, JOSÉ ANTONIO SERRA REXACH, JAVIER TOVAR GARCÍA, CARLOS VERDEJO BRAVO, ESTEBAN PALOMO

Published: 8 September 2020

http://www.doi.org/10.37201/req/057.2020

Infection in the elderly is a huge issue whose treatment usually has partial and specific approaches. It is, moreover, one of the areas where intervention can have the most success in improving the quality of life of older patients. In an attempt to give the widest possible focus to this issue, the Health Sciences Foundation has convened experts from different areas to produce this position paper on Infection in the Elderly, so as to compare the opinions of expert doctors and nurses, pharmacists, journalists, representatives of elderly associations and concluding with the ethical aspects raised by the issue. The format is that of discussion of a series of pre-formulated questions that were discussed by all those present. We begin by discussing the concept of the elderly, the reasons for their predisposition to infection, the most frequent infections and their causes, and the workload and economic burden they place on society. We also considered whether we had the data to estimate the proportion of these infections that could be reduced by specific programmes, including vaccination programmes. In this context, the limited presence of this issue in the media, the position of scientific societies and patient associations on the issue and the ethical aspects raised by all this were discussed.

Rev Esp Quimioter 2020; 33(5): 327-349 [Full-text PDF]