International Shingles Awareness Week: People aged 50 and above are at high risk of shingles, pay attention to the risk and take proactive measures to prevent it

February 26th to March 3rd is the third International Shingles Awareness Week. Shingles is a common infectious skin disease among middle-aged and elderly people, with a high incidence in middle-aged and elderly people aged 50 and above, and the older the age, the more serious the disease. Currently, there is no specific medicine for the treatment of shingles, and vaccination is one of the effective means of prevention. Experts call on the public to understand the risks of the disease and enhance awareness of prevention.

Three high-risk groups should be more vigilant about herpes zoster

Shingles is an infectious skin disease caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus. It is also known as "dragon around the waist" or "snake around the waist" in folklore.

Pain is the main symptom of herpes zoster, which is extremely painful when it occurs. Han Xianwei, director of the third ward of the dermatology department of Shenyang No. 7 People's Hospital, said: "It causes great pain to patients mainly because it can cause posterior neuralgia, which is pain that lasts more than 90 days after the rash appears. This pain has different manifestations, such as needle pain, knife pain, burning pain, etc., which seriously affects the patient's life, work and mental health, and even causes anxiety and depression. The older the patient is, the more serious the condition is."

Age is the most important risk factor for shingles. People over 50 are susceptible to the disease. The older they are, the more likely they are to get sick and the more serious the condition is. Han Xianwei reminded that three groups of people are at high risk for shingles and should pay special attention to prevention. The first is people aged 50 and over. Even if they are healthy, the risk of middle-aged and elderly people contracting shingles after the age of 50 will still increase sharply. The second is people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The risk of postherpetic neuralgia in patients with chronic diseases is higher than that of healthy people, and the pain they feel is also stronger. The third category is people with low immune function, such as cancer patients, AIDS patients, rheumatoid arthritis patients, etc., who are at much higher risk of contracting shingles than the general population.

Active prevention and active immunity to protect your health

"There is currently no specific medicine for shingles, but it can be prevented through vaccination," said Zhu Lijun, director of the Immunization Program Institute of Shenyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Infectious diseases represented by shingles, influenza, and pneumonia seriously threaten the health of middle-aged and elderly people. Vaccination can not only provide protection for individuals, but also help reduce the disease burden of society. At present, the vaccines available to the elderly in my country include influenza vaccines, pneumococcal vaccines, and shingles vaccines.

However, due to various reasons such as suffering from underlying diseases, some elderly people are hesitant about vaccination to prevent diseases. Zhu Lijun suggested that people consult professional doctors before vaccination, actively provide personal health status, and choose vaccines suitable for themselves under the guidance of doctors. People with chronic diseases are more susceptible to infectious diseases due to their low immunity, which will also increase the difficulty of chronic disease management. Therefore, vaccination is more necessary to actively prevent vaccine-related diseases. Patients with immunodeficiency or immunosuppressive diseases need to pay attention to vaccination contraindications and cannot be vaccinated with live attenuated vaccines. For recombinant protein vaccines, low immune function or immune damage is not a contraindication to vaccination.