We all know the saying about not being able to see the forest for the trees. That’s what I want to write about today.

Unfortunately, her medical condition had impaired the function of her spleen. With my interest in immunisation of the immunocompromised, I asked her about whether she had had any pneumococcal vaccines. She hadn’t.

In holistic care of this patient, I believe that this issue should have at least been mentioned to the patient by her specialist, if not actually facilitated. It is so easy to overlook a preventive measure in someone who has a complicated medical condition.

And the recommendations for vaccinating an immunocompromised patient are not straightforward, either. Oftentimes, such patients seek almost all of their care entirely from specialists, so that a GP is only rarely involved in their management.