The vaccine to prevent shingles: the Longevitas Foundation campaign
Growing old, yes, but in the right way and paying attention to your health through healthy prevention practices
MILAN –Aging, yes, but in the right way and paying attention to your health through healthy prevention practices.
This is how we can summarize the mission of the Longevitas Foundation, which for this purpose is conducting anawareness campaign aimed at the over 65s. Among the primary tools in combating pathologies infectious diseases to which the elderly could be exposed, there are vaccines, including the one against the so-called St. Anthony’s Fire. It is from here that the first stage organized at Palazzo Lombardia by the Longevitas Foundation starts, which in conference “Staying healthy thanks to vaccination prevention in adults: the example of the vaccine against Herpes Zoster” outlined the current panorama in Italy.
THE shingles comes from herpes zooster< /strong>
Dr. Giuseppe Bellelli, full professor of Geriatrics at the University of Milan-Bicocca, provided a general epidemiological picture of the pathology: “St. Anthony’s Fire is a complication that derives from ‘having previously come into contact with the chickenpox virus,Herpes Zoster in fact. It is estimated that approximately 98% of the population has been exposed to this virus at a young age; we are talking about a virus that remains latent in the sensory ganglia and which can reawaken in the elderly due to the weakening of the immune defenses. The pathology in the over 65s is not only painful, but also has various types of complications, such as post-herpetic neuralgia and a loss of motor function. To combat such a clinical picture, it is better to focus on prevention, which is based on vaccines. The administration takes place in two doses, but unfortunately to date the adherence rates of the elderly population are still too low, partly due to people’s hesitation in getting vaccinated”. p>
The criticality highlighted by Professor Bellelli was also underlined by Emanuele Monti, President of the IX Commission on Social Sustainability, Home and Family of the Lombardy Region, who during his speech in a room full of spectators also spoke about the importance of territorial medicine. “Adherence to the campaigns against shingles is not enough. We need to involve mayors and third sector associations to have a completely free vaccination for citizens of the expected age cohort, which concerns those over 65. The Lombardy Region provides this type of administration to this segment of the population and we are working to invest even more so in prevention: every Euro spent in this field corresponds to three Euros saved by the National Health Service”.
THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF ITALIANS
In a country like ours, which has a high life expectancy – 81 years for men, 85 for women according to the 2023 Bes Report edited by Istat– and in which the The elderly population is constantly growing in the face of the strong problem linked to the birth rate, ensuring the best possible quality of health becomes not only essential, but a priority. As explained byEleonora Selvi, president of the Longevitas Foundation, “Aging requires an active and targeted response from health systems and vaccination prevention has a crucial role as it protects adults from pathologies that can have serious consequences, especially for the most fragile. There is still a lot of work to do, because we are far from the vaccination objectives we need to achieve; we need to remove obstacles and build awareness among people to make them understand that the vaccine is a very powerful tool in our hands. Furthermore, the National Health Service is helped, because what is avoided by spending on prevention can be invested in everyone’s health”.
THE ROLE OF GENERAL MEDICINE
General practitioners are always on the front line, an essential point of reference in the area for the preliminary management of certain diseases. The Herpes Zoster vaccine can now be administered also by family doctors, as recalled by Paola Pedrini, general secretary of Fimmg Lombardia. “It is important to enhance the role of the general practitioner in the overall management of the vaccination strategy,” underlined Dr. Pedrini. “Precisely the particular relationship of trust with the patients makes it crucial for the promotion, organization and facilitation of the prevention of pathologies with significant repercussions on the health of the community and consequently on the sustainability of the system”.
“IT IS FUNDAMENTAL TO TALK TO FAMILIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE”
Using vaccines therefore remains a primary path in protecting health. “Promoting vaccination practice among adults is essential to guarantee a healthier and more active population and is an investment in the sustainable future of our increasingly long-lived society”, added President Selvi, who then also focused on the next educational meetings that the Longevitas Foundation will face: “We are working a lot on cardiological prevention. At the same time we carry out screening initiatives in collaboration with various universities and scientific societies. We are primarily aimed at the over 65 population, but we also aim at other age groups, precisely because longevity is something that is built correctly starting from the first years of life. It is essential to talk to families and young people to extend this culture of positive aging as much as possible”.