Vaccines for the elderly: types and when to get them

Not only children who need immunizations, their grandparents too. The reason is, the body's immune system will weaken as we get older. This is what makes older people more susceptible to illness and infection. Vaccines, aka immunizations, can be the right way to prevent the elderly from contracting the disease so that they can be more productive in their retirement. What vaccines for the elderly are recommended by doctors?

Recommended vaccines for the elderly

Vaccines are made from disease-causing microbes (whether viral, fungal, poisonous, or bacterial; depending on the type of disease you want to prevent) that have been weakened or dead so they won't cause disease.

In the body, vaccines work to mimic the occurrence of infection in the disease to trigger the body's immune system to build up resistance against it. This then makes the body always prepare for the real disease attack because it "remembers" which organisms are dangerous and need to be eradicated.

Some of the vaccines recommended for the elderly, namely:

1. Flu vaccine

Although common and often underestimated, the flu can be deadly if symptoms are tolerated. What's in the elderly whose immune system is weaker, so that the flu will be more difficult and take longer to heal.

Certain health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, also weaken the immune system so that it can worsen the flu and even cause complications, such as pneumonia.

Influenza viruses can be prevented with the flu vaccine, which can be obtained once a year. It takes about two weeks for the elderly's body to respond to the vaccine and build up immunity.

2. Herpes zoster vaccine

Your parents need to get the shingles vaccine, especially if they have had chickenpox in their youth. The chickenpox virus can remain in your body for years, even after you recover, and "flare up" later in life in a version of shingles, aka shingles. Yes! Both chicken pox and shingles (shingles) are both caused by one virus, namelyVaricella virus.

This virus can get stronger as the elderly's immune system weakens. The most common complication of this disease is postherpetic neuralgia, which is characterized by chronic pain for months after acute shingles.

That is why the elderly also need to get the shingles vaccine if they have never had it. This vaccine is given to people aged 50 to 60 years, both in good health and even with herpes.

The efficacy of this vaccine lasts for five years.

3. Pneumococcal vaccine

This vaccine aims to prevent diseases caused by bacterial infections Streptocossus pneumoniae or more commonly called pneumococcal germs. The pneumococcal vaccine works to prevent pneumonia (lung infection), meningitis (infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord), and sepsis (blood infection).

This pneumococcal bacterial disease can cause deafness, brain damage, loss of limbs, and even death.

Usually, the vaccine for the elderly is given in two stages, namely the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine and the polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine.

4. Hepatitis B vaccine

Hepatitis B is a contagious viral infection that can cause liver damage. The hepatitis B vaccine is needed by the elderly because the liver and its function have decreased due to natural aging, making it susceptible to infection with the virus.

An elderly person is also susceptible to contracting hepatitis B if he already has hemophilia, diabetes, kidney disease, and other diseases that cause his immune system to weaken.

Hepatitis B vaccine generally has been given since infancy with three or four series of injections for six months. However, if you are not sure that you have had this vaccine or not, consult your doctor about getting this vaccine again.