How do the elderly choose vaccines that are suitable for them? Experts from World Immunization Week come to popularize science

How do the elderly choose vaccines that are suitable for them? Experts from World Immunization Week come to popularize science

Population aging is the basic national condition of my country for a long period of time in the future. According to the National Health Commission, the number of people aged 60 and above in my country will exceed 400 million around 2035, entering a stage of severe aging. Health is the basis for ensuring the independence and participation of the elderly in society. How to promote healthy aging has become a common concern of the society.

The World Health Organization has designated the last week of April each year as "World Immunization Week". On the occasion of this year's World Immunization Week, on April 26, the Changsha station of the Science Popularization China & Science and Business Lecture Series Media Salon with the theme of "Improving Prevention Awareness and Promoting Elderly Health" was held. Zhang Ying, chief physician of the Immunization Program Department of Changsha Center for Disease Control and Prevention, gave an authoritative science popularization on topics such as the importance of immunization for the elderly in the context of aging, the scientific understanding of the value of vaccines, and how the elderly choose vaccination.

What should we do about immune aging in the elderly? Prevention is the key to health management

Immunosenescence is an important factor causing diseases in the elderly. Zhang Ying introduced that as people enter old age, their physiological functions show a trend of decline, and the decline in immune function significantly increases the risk of infectious diseases such as influenza, pneumonia, and herpes zoster in the elderly. In addition, the elderly are often accompanied by chronic underlying diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Once an infectious disease occurs, it is often more difficult to treat, and it will cause the originally well-controlled chronic disease to get out of control, which in turn further worsens the infection and may become the "last straw that breaks the camel's back." Therefore, preventing infectious diseases is particularly important for the health management of the elderly. Vaccination is one of the most economical, convenient, scientific and effective ways to prevent targeted diseases. Active vaccination of the elderly can not only protect the elderly from getting sick, but also reduce the medical and economic burden on families and society.

Zhang Ying said that currently, the vaccines recommended for the elderly in my country mainly include influenza vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine and shingles vaccine. The public has a high level of awareness of influenza and pneumonia, but not much about shingles. According to reports, shingles is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which can be transmitted through contact and respiratory tract. It is highly prevalent in people aged 50 and above, and the older you are, the higher the risk of disease and the more serious the condition. Vaccination against shingles is an effective and feasible way to prevent it.

How should the elderly choose vaccines? Consider their own conditions, contraindications and other factors

The safety of vaccines is one of the primary factors that people consider when choosing vaccines. Zhang Ying believes that the vaccines that residents can get now are very safe. This is because there are very complete and strict management systems in all aspects of vaccines from research and development, production, circulation to the final vaccination. The "Vaccine Management Law" was implemented on December 1, 2019. It takes the "four most stringent" as the legislative purpose, including the most rigorous standards, the most stringent supervision, the most severe punishment, and the most serious accountability. The word "strict" runs through all aspects of vaccine development, production, circulation, vaccination and its supervision and management. China implements a batch release system for vaccines. Before each batch of vaccines is sold or imported, it must be reviewed and inspected by the batch release agency designated by the State Council's drug supervision and administration department in accordance with relevant technical requirements. Only qualified vaccines can be used by the people. In addition, some people will experience systemic reactions such as redness, swelling, heat and pain at the vaccination site, or fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, etc. after vaccination. This does not mean that the vaccine is unsafe. The above symptoms often ease on their own within one to three days, and the vaccine recipients do not need to worry too much.

As for the increasing number of vaccines available, such as inactivated vaccines, live attenuated vaccines, and recombinant protein vaccines, how should the elderly choose? Zhang Ying introduced that the elderly citizens need to consider the applicable age, vaccination procedures, and contraindications of the vaccine based on their own physical conditions and under the guidance of doctors, and choose the vaccine that suits them. For example, people with low immune function are not recommended to receive live attenuated vaccines. In addition, if you need to know more relevant information, such as the protective efficacy and durability of the vaccine, please consult professional medical professionals.