Source | Urban Live Original
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July 24 every year
It's International Self-Care Day
The reason why it was established on this day
It's because I advocate for everyone
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Always focus on self-care
Doctor reminds
Prevention is the most cost-effective health strategy
Vaccination is an effective means of preventing infectious diseases
Especially for older friends
It can often achieve twice the result with half the effort
Mr. Hu, 62, who was sitting on the hospital bed, said that he had been in good health, but he did not expect to be hospitalized because of pain.
Mr. Hu: There was a little bit of pain on the head, but on the third day, the seeds came out of the head, and the pain was so sad that I couldn't do anything, and I couldn't sleep well at night.
The doctor told Mr. Hu that the "cause" of the pain was shingles, an infectious skin disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus that has been latent in the posterior root ganglia or cranial ganglia of the spinal cord for a long time. Pain is the main symptom of shingles.
Xiong Jing, Chief Physician of the Department of General Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University: This virus is self-limiting, mainly because of residual neuralgia, that is, we control neuralgia. What should we pay attention to? We must pay attention to rest, improve our own immunity, and even we are actively immunized, and prevent it by vaccination. As we age, our immune function declines and the virus reactivates to cause shingles. Data shows that about 1/3 of people will suffer from shingles in their lifetime, and in addition to causing skin damage to patients, severe pain can lead to anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, etc.
Mr. Hu told reporters that he had never known about the disease herpes zoster before, and he did not know anything about the prevention of the disease by vaccination. In fact, immunity is the key to defending against external pathogens, and age is one of the important factors affecting immunity. By the end of 2023, the number of middle-aged and elderly people aged 60 and above in mainland China will reach 297 million, accounting for 21.1% of the total population. The high incidence of chronic diseases is a major challenge facing an aging society. In mainland China, about 75% of middle-aged and elderly people aged 60 and above have at least one chronic disease, and 43% have multiple diseases.
Xiong Jing, Chief Physician of the Department of General Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University: Chronic diseases greatly increase the risk of infectious diseases, and once the elderly are infected, they have many complications, poor treatment effects, and it is more difficult to manage their original chronic diseases. At present, common infectious diseases in middle-aged and elderly people include influenza, herpes zoster, pneumococcal disease, etc.
According to doctors, prevention is the most cost-effective health strategy, and vaccination is an effective means to prevent infectious diseases.
Li Zhenxing, head of the general outpatient clinic of Shajing Community Health Service Center, Honggutan District, Nanchang City: It is recommended that middle-aged and elderly people take the initiative to vaccinate against influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae and herpes zoster, chronic diseases are not contraindications to vaccination, different vaccines are applicable to different ages, and different vaccines have different protective effects, so it is recommended that people consult professional doctors before vaccination.
In 2019, the General Office of the National Health Commission issued the "Core Information on the Prevention of Disability in the Elderly", recommending that middle-aged and elderly people should be vaccinated regularly with pneumococcal and herpes zoster vaccines, and should be vaccinated with influenza vaccines under the guidance of doctors before the influenza epidemic season.