One of the most famous quotes of Rudolf Virchow, a German researcher in Cell Biology, urges us to "learn to see microscopically”. In this complex situation that the world is facing nowadays, it seems vital to return to these words and complete them by adding that we should think globally, as well.

The humanity encountered and won battles against many pathogens, such as Yersinia pestis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Variola viruses. However, at this moment in time we are confronted with multiple epidemics simultaneously. For instance, Romania is fighting both the COVID-19 pandemic and the measles epidemic. While the former is driven by an emerging virus, the latter is driven by a well-known virus, and one of the reasons behind the current epidemic is the parents’ hesitancy in immunizing their children through vaccination, as a result of misleading information in social media.

Measles, a disease which is vaccine-preventable since 1963, has provoked 64 deaths and more than 20,000 cases of infection in Romania during the current epidemic (2016-ongoing), among which 1092 cases were registered only in 2020, as the latest European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control report indicates.¹

Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 15,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been confirmed using rRT-PCR, and almost 1000 deaths have been reported in Romania by the beginning of May 2020.²

The consequences are multiple: psychosocial, financial, educational. By far the psychosocial aspect may affect the healthcare system directly, as there is the risk to stop trusting the specialists and ignore medical recommendations, due to the abundance of fake news.

A lot of effort is constantly done to combat illnesses and infections, but now, more than ever before, everyone should keep thinking about the importance of vaccination. Routine vaccination should not be interrupted by pandemics and it has to be strongly supported by accurate but, at the same time, accessible information from specialists, such as healthcare professionals, biologists, biochemists, virologists, infectious diseases practitioners and general practitioners.

Vaccines, as a public health measure, bring numerous benefits to the community, including economic ones, and last but not least, they are safe and effective, being undoubtedly the only way to prevent and combat serious illnesses and to prolong lifespan.

1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR). Week 19, 3-9 May 2020.

2. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). COVID-19 situation update. Accessed on: 09 May 2020. Available at: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea.