Vaccination against Nosocomial Infections in Elderly Adults

Abstract

Nosocomial infections represent a major global disease burden, and effective treatments are urgently needed, especially among older adult populations (≥65 years of age). With increasing age, risk factors for these infections increase due to underlying health conditions, immunosenescence, and increased contact with healthcare settings. In addition, many common nosocomial pathogens feature increasing rates of antibiotic resistance, compounding the problem and highlighting the need for prophylactic alternatives to antibiotic treatment, such as vaccines. In many cases, mortality rates associated with nosocomial pathogens that are antibiotic resistant are high. This chapter reviews the epidemiology of common nosocomial pathogens and diseases affecting older adult populations. Vaccines that are currently approved or in development for preventing disease caused by common nosocomial pathogens are also described. While important progress has been made in vaccine development for several pathogens such as Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus aureus, there remains a crucial unmet need for vaccines to prevent the many common nosocomial infections, which disproportionately affect older adults.