Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Liang Chen's Map ( Xinhua News Agency )
Song Bo's Map (Xinhua News Agency )
April 24th to 30th is the annual World Immunization Week . This year's theme is "Everyone lives longevity", aiming to improve people's awareness of the importance of vaccines and immunizations, and protect people of all ages from diseases.
Middle-aged and elderly people are the key groups for immune protection
"In my country, children's vaccination work has made great progress and achievements, effectively protecting the health and life safety of the majority of children. Another group that needs special attention is middle-aged and elderly people." Feng Zijian, deputy president and secretary-general of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, said that as we all know, vaccination is one of the important means of epidemic prevention and control of new crown , especially the elderly who receive the new crown vaccine throughout the process can effectively reduce the risk of severe illness and death. As we grow older, the physiological metabolic and immune functions of various tissues and organs of the elderly gradually decline, and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, , respiratory diseases, diabetes , kidney diseases, etc. are often present at the same time, and the risk of infectious diseases increases significantly. Once middle-aged and elderly people get infected, their condition is often serious, which seriously affects the quality of life of the elderly and increases the risk of death. Therefore, middle-aged and elderly people should become the key group for immune protection.
"In the past, people paid more attention to basic and chronic diseases of middle-aged and elderly people, and paid relatively little attention to the prevention and control of infectious diseases." Yu Hua, vice president and secretary-general of the Chinese Association for Elderly Health, pointed out that the middle-aged and elderly people are generally limited to improving their ability to prevent infectious diseases through balanced nutrition, strengthening exercise and even taking some health products. Few people understand the importance of vaccination related vaccines in preventing infectious diseases.
The China Elderly Health Association and other units recently released the research results that middle-aged and elderly people aged 50 and above generally underestimate the risks and dangers of common infectious diseases such as pneumonia and shingles. One-third of the elderly have not been vaccinated with any common infectious diseases. However, more than 60% of middle-aged and elderly people who have experienced these diseases said that if they can re-choice, they hope to be vaccinated in advance.
"Scientific vaccination is conducive to preventing infectious diseases, slowing down the progress of chronic diseases in the elderly, and reducing the risk of adverse outcomes caused by complications of chronic diseases." Du Xueping, president of the General Practitioner Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, emphasized that the awareness and action ability of middle-aged and elderly people to actively prevent infectious diseases need to be improved.
The three common infectious diseases need special attention
"Infectious diseases are a general term for diseases caused by pathogen microorganism . It has a high incidence and high mortality rate among the elderly, which seriously affects the quality of life of the elderly and causes a heavy economic burden." At the seminar on "Healthy Aging and Immune Prevention" held by Peking University New Media Research Institute recently, Chi Chunhua, director of the General Medicine Department of Peking University First Hospital, said that this has become one of the major public health issues in the world.
In 2019, National Health Commission released the "Core Information on Disability Prevention of Elderly", which recommended that the elderly receive pneumococcal vaccine and shingles vaccine regularly. influenza is vaccinated with influenza vaccine under the guidance of doctors before the epidemic.
Not long ago, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and other units issued the "my country Health Protection Initiative for the Elderly", which clearly pointed out that the elderly should enhance their awareness of vaccination and prevent diseases, and should actively receive influenza vaccine, Streptococcus pneumoniae (also known as pneumococcal) vaccine and shingles vaccine.
Why do you repeatedly emphasize these 3 vaccines?
"Infectious diseases cover a wide range of diseases. Influenza, streptococcal pneumoniae, and shingles are common infectious diseases in the elderly, with high incidence and heavy disease burden. At the same time, the research and guidelines related to influenza vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine and shingles vaccine are relatively mature." Du Xueping introduced that influenza (referred to as "influenza") is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza virus . The elderly are high-risk people for influenza virus , and are also high-risk people for severe illness and death.
In northern regions, it is generally popular and prevalent in winter and spring every year. Influenza patients and hidden infected people are the main sources of influenza. Influenza viruses are mainly transmitted through droplets of respiratory secretions (such as sneezing and coughing), and can also be directly or indirectly transmitted through the mucosa such as the mouth, nasal cavity, eyes, etc. It may also be transmitted in the form of aerosol in specific places. It is recommended that elderly people over 60 get influenza vaccination, especially during the high incidence of influenza.
Experts introduced that community-acquired pneumonia is one of the common infectious diseases in the elderly, and Streptococcus pneumonia is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia. Pneumococcal can also cause bacteremia , meningitis and other diseases, threatening the health of the elderly. Pneumococcal can be inhaled through aerosols or droplets, or it can be transmitted through respiratory droplets to cause infection. According to the China Health Statistical Yearbook, the number of people discharged from pneumonia in 2017 was 3.592 million, with 17.2% of the elderly aged 60 and above accounting for 17.2%, and the mortality rate was 0.49%. It is recommended that elderly people over 65 get pneumococcal vaccine as early as possible.
shingles are common infectious diseases caused by the re-stimulation of the varicella-zoster virus that is latent in the posterior root ganglion of the spinal cord or intracranial nerves after initial infection. They are mainly transmitted through droplets and contact. Herpes zoster can occur at any age, but its incidence increases significantly with age, and the incidence rate increases significantly from the age of 50. Some patients with herpes zoster will have a long-term neuralgia and , which seriously affects the quality of life. It is recommended that middle-aged and elderly people get herpes zoster vaccine for prevention.
"Vaccination is an important measure to protect susceptible populations. These three infectious diseases should be paid attention to. Timely vaccination with related vaccines can help reduce the risk of infectious diseases and related complications." Du Xueping emphasized.
implements the healthy aging strategy throughout the whole process and throughout the cycle
"For diseases, we are increasingly emphasizing the third-level prevention , and paying more attention to the role of prevention in health management." Chi Chunhua introduced that first-level prevention is disease-free prevention. In addition to vaccination, it also includes health management and health education; second-level prevention is early diagnosis and treatment; tertiary prevention is clinical prevention, preventing disability and promoting functional recovery.
"The elderly should maintain a good lifestyle, live regularly, quit smoking and drinking, have a balanced diet, strengthen nutrition, and conduct appropriate physical exercise. Pay attention to the environment and personal hygiene, open windows regularly for ventilation, and avoid going to places where people gather during the high incidence of respiratory diseases." Du Xueping pointed out that in the normalized prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the people have generally developed good personal hygiene habits, which not only helps prevent the new crown virus, but also is of great benefit to prevent other infectious diseases.
"Health management not only focuses on key groups that are already old and sick, but also has to be forward-looking. The proposal of 'healthy aging' means that our country not only pays attention to the number of elderly people, but also cares about the quality of life of the elderly." Professor Wang Hongman from the School of Medicine and Humanities of Peking University pointed out that the connotation of elderly health cannot be measured by whether there is or not, but should be marked by daily life functions or further social life functions as a symbol of "oldering health". "If you want to live normally in old age, you must implement it throughout the entire process and throughout the cycle of life' Healthy aging’ strategy. Immunization is one of the most economical and effective means to prevent diseases and needs attention from the whole society. "
" It is necessary to promote public health policies and public fiscal policies specifically targeting the elderly's immunization prevention services, and continuously improve vaccination services, such as optimizing vaccination sites, vaccination time and other settings. Through efforts from multiple parties, more accessible and convenient vaccination services are provided for middle-aged and elderly people, thereby improving vaccination rates. "Feng Zijian said that this can reduce the burden of infectious diseases among middle-aged and elderly people, extend the life span of the elderly, and improve their quality of life.
"It is too difficult to rely on ordinary residents to master a lot of health knowledge. Who is the most feasible? Medical staff have this responsibility. my country is promoting family doctor contract services, and general practitioners establish health records for residents in the community. General practitioners and residents are closest to each other, and it is most likely to do a good job in popularizing health science and vaccination."Chi Chunhua suggested that medical staff in primary medical and health institutions should focus on increasing their importance on vaccination for the elderly, strengthen public vaccination publicity and education, recommend vaccination for suitable vaccination personnel, and actively promote the elderly to establish a correct understanding of infectious disease vaccines, so as to improve the vaccination rate of the elderly, improve their quality of life, and promote healthy aging.
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