World Immunization Week | Experts say: Not only children should be vaccinated, but vaccination of the elderly is also very important for preventing diseases

Population aging is an important trend in social development and also the basic national condition of my country for a long period of time in the future. Health is the basis for ensuring the independence and participation of the elderly in social life. Ensuring the health of the elderly is a long-term strategy to actively respond to population aging.

How to better protect the health of the elderly, ensure the quality of their later years, and enhance their immunity have become the focus of everyone's attention. In the opinion of experts, in order to enhance the immunity of the elderly, in addition to eating well, drinking well, sleeping well, and developing good living habits, early vaccination is also a necessary means.

As the "World Immunization Week" in the last week of April approaches, Dr. Guo Yonghao, director of the laboratory of the Immunization Program Institute of the Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, appealed to the whole society in the form of "Ten Questions and Ten Answers" at a media salon: Not only children need to be vaccinated, but it is also very meaningful for the elderly to be vaccinated to prevent infectious diseases.

Influenza, pneumonia, and shingles vaccines are now available

my country is slowly entering an aging society. To improve the health of the elderly, we must adhere to prevention first, and vaccination is an important means of prevention. Vaccination can reduce infection, reduce the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases, and ensure the health of the elderly so that they can enjoy a better life in their later years.

Vaccination is particularly important as a means to improve the immunity of the elderly.

Guo Yonghao said that vaccination is the most economical, effective and simple means to prevent related diseases. It can help the elderly reduce the threat of infectious diseases and effectively reduce the risk of severe illness and death. "At present, the three most commonly used vaccines for the elderly in my country are influenza vaccine, pneumonia vaccine and shingles vaccine. Influenza vaccination for the elderly can reduce the incidence of influenza-related complications, reduce influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths; for shingles, which has no specific treatment, vaccination is an effective preventive measure. From the perspective of the whole society's concern, more publicity should be carried out to gradually improve the elderly's awareness of vaccination, so that more elderly people, more families, and more children will realize the importance of vaccination for the elderly."

There are many types of vaccines available, so consider the “clever choice”

Faced with professional terms such as live attenuated vaccine and inactivated vaccine, people are often at a loss and don't know how to choose the vaccine that's right for them.

Guo Yonghao introduced that vaccines are currently divided into two categories according to whether the pathogens are alive: live attenuated vaccines and inactivated vaccines. Inactivated vaccines include genetic engineering vaccines (recombinant protein vaccines), virus-like vaccines, virus split vaccines, etc. according to different production technology routes. Recently, mRNA nucleic acid vaccines have been developed. For people with immunodeficiency or who are receiving systemic immunosuppression, inactivated vaccines can be administered, but in principle, live attenuated vaccines are not administered (except for patients with complement deficiency).

Guo Yonghao said that the elderly need to consider their own physical conditions, the applicable age of the vaccine, the vaccination procedure, contraindications, etc., and choose the vaccine that suits them. In addition, if you need to know more relevant information, such as the protective efficacy and durability of the vaccine, you can consult the vaccination staff of the nearest community health service center.

Experts explain in detail "Is it safe, useful, and can it be used?"

For the elderly, safety considerations are very important when deciding whether to get vaccinated.

Guo Yonghao explained: "Our country currently has a very sound system, and the circulation and vaccination of vaccines after they are on the market are strictly regulated. Adverse reactions may occur after vaccination. Common adverse reactions can be divided into local reactions and systemic reactions. Local reactions generally occur at the injection site, such as redness, swelling, heat, and pain at the injection site. Systemic reactions include fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, etc. However, these symptoms are usually mild and short-lived, and they disappear within a few days. Most of them do not require treatment."

As for whether vaccines are useful for patients with chronic diseases, Guo Yonghao said that there have been a lot of studies on vaccination for patients with chronic diseases, all of which have confirmed that most subjects can obtain immune protection through vaccination. Even if the duration of immune protection produced by some individuals is limited and the degree of immune response is relatively low, compared with the more serious health damage caused by infection-related diseases caused by not getting vaccinated, vaccination is still valuable. From this point of view, vaccination is not just a matter for children, but also very meaningful for the elderly to get vaccinated to prevent diseases.