In the scorching summer, seasonal fruits such as watermelon and lychee are the "summer standard" for people in Guangdong. Zhang Li, director of the Department of Geriatrics of the People's Hospital of Guangdong Province, said recently: "Watermelon is a fruit with a relatively high glycemic index. Eating a large amount of watermelon may cause blood sugar to rise. In this case, for patients with diabetes, the rise in blood sugar may cause a decline in immune level, thus inducing the reactivation of varicella zoster virus, which is' latent 'in the body, to cause herpes zoster."
The science popularization activity with the theme of "Healthy Aging, Starting from Active Management" was recently held in Guangzhou. With the growth of age, the physiological and metabolic functions and immune functions of various tissues and organs of middle-aged and elderly people gradually decline, and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases and other chronic diseases often exist at the same time, and the risk of suffering from infectious diseases increases significantly. At present, the common infectious diseases of middle-aged and elderly people include influenza, pneumonia, herpes zoster, etc.
Herpes zoster (commonly known as "coiled waist dragon", "snake coiled waist", "raw snake", etc.) is an infectious skin disease caused by varicella zoster virus. About one-third of people will suffer from herpes zoster in their lifetime. Zhang Li especially reminded that "with the growth of age, the immune function of middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old will decline, which is a high incidence group of herpes zoster. In addition, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, tumor patients and other people with low immune function are also the main high-risk groups."
Carrying out vaccination for adults, especially the elderly, is one of the important measures to reduce the burden of medical resources and improve the health level of the population. Vaccination for the elderly requires attention to three aspects: age, protective efficacy, and contraindications. Liu Xia, Deputy Director of Jinsha Street Community Health Service Center in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, reminds patients with immune dysfunction or immunosuppressive diseases that they need to pay attention to contraindications for vaccination and cannot receive attenuated live vaccines. However, for recombinant protein vaccines, low immune function or immune damage are not contraindications for vaccination. Especially for patients with rheumatic immune diseases, it is recommended to first receive inactivated vaccines and recombinant protein vaccines. In cases where other process vaccines are available, it is not recommended to receive attenuated live vaccines
