On June 20, a topic “It is recommended to take parents to get the shingles vaccine as soon as possible” quickly became a hot search on Weibo, with over 500 million views. This has aroused the curiosity of many readers, “Is the shingles vaccine a must-have vaccine for the elderly?” Wu Wenfeng, director of the Dengfeng Street Community Health Service Center in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, introduced to the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that people over 50 years old in my country There are about 1.56 million new cases of herpes zoster every year. Because the resistance of middle-aged and elderly people is easy to decline and some patients may have “neuralgia” after being infected with herpes zoster, it is recommended that people with economic conditions can start at the age of 50. vaccinate against herpes zoster virus.
Neuralgia in elderly patients over 60 with herpes zoster
According to experts, the herpes zoster virus is the same type of virus that causes chickenpox in childhood. When the body’s resistance is low or fatigued, or catch a cold, the virus can be activated again, causing herpes zoster. Mr. Liu, 56, contracted shingles a month ago. “At that time, there was a mung bean-sized erythema on the right waist. At first I thought it was eczema, so I applied some ointment such as dermatitis. After more than 20 days of boiling, the blisters gradually disappeared, but now the pain is getting worse and worse. .”
Later, Mr. Liu went to the Dengfeng Street Community Health Service Center to see a doctor. The doctor said that the herpes zoster virus destroyed the nerves, and he suffered from “postherpetic neuralgia”. Wu Wenfeng pointed out, “The most common age of herpes zoster is the middle-aged and the elderly, especially those who take steroids or immunosuppressants for a long time. The disease course of herpes zoster is about half a month. In the first three days or so, itching, burning, and severe pain occurred at the onset site, followed by mung bean-sized herpes, which quickly became banded. When the herpes was dry and crusted, it was basically calculated. However, some patients disappeared completely after the blisters. , there is still neuralgia left. According to statistics, about 10% of patients with herpes zoster will be complicated with postherpetic neuralgia, and the incidence rate is the highest in elderly patients over 60 years old, up to 50%-75%.”
Vaccination protection rate of up to 97%
Generally speaking, most people will only have shingles once, unless there is an underlying disease and the health is very poor, shingles will recur. “There are some elderly people with poor immunity, such as advanced age, cellular immune deficiency, mental stress, fatigue, etc., which often induce shingles, and women are at higher risk than men.” Wu Wenfeng said, “We have encountered Lupus erythematosus patients suffer from herpes zoster at the same time, which makes it even worse and the pain is unbearable.”
It is reported that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has included the shingles vaccine into the adult immunization program and recommends it for people over 50 years old. According to the reporter’s understanding, there are two main herpes zoster vaccines that have been listed abroad: one is the live attenuated vaccine of Merck; the other is the recombinant vaccine of GlaxoSmithKline, which was approved for marketing in my country in 2019. .
Wang Ming, chief expert of Guangzhou Preventive Medicine Association, told reporters that according to the clinical study of recombinant vaccines, the 50-69-year-old age group received 2 doses of recombinant shingles vaccine, the effect of preventing shingles can be as high as 97%, and the prevention of neuralgia can be as high as 97%. Up to 91%; for people over 70 years old, the protection is still greater than 85%. Because the risk of developing shingles increases with age, vaccination is recommended for people over 50 to prevent shingles in old age.
“Is it very painful after vaccination, and are the side effects large?” According to the reporter’s understanding, the elderly are more concerned about the side effects of shingles vaccination. Wu Wenfeng said that about 80% of the vaccinated people experienced mild or moderate arm pain; more than 50% of the vaccinated people also experienced symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, and headache. Clinical trials have shown that about 1/6 of the vaccinated people will experience the above side effects, but some of them disappear spontaneously within 2-3 days. “I received the shingles vaccine last year. I had a little pain in the first day or two of the vaccination, but it was relieved on the third day.” Wang Ming said.
It is worth mentioning that at present, residents over the age of 50 can make an appointment to receive the shingles vaccine at various social health centers in Guangzhou. The strip vaccine is 1,629 yuan/dose, with a total of two doses, and the second dose and the first dose are vaccinated two months apart.