The Minister of Health, Raúl Pesquera, was present today at the conference on the launch of the herpes zoster vaccine and encouraged the target population -born in 1958 and over 18 years of age with risk factors- to get vaccinated against this disease ” serious and disabling, which generates a need for care and a very significant health expense, accompanied by the suffering of patients and their social and family environment”.
As you explained, herpes zoster is a localized infection produced by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, the same one that causes chickenpox and remains latent in people’s bodies.
The General Directorate of Public Health has acquired a total of 14,000 doses, “which will serve to start this new vaccination schedule in the Cantabrian calendar, aimed at the population with the highest risk of suffering from herpes zoster.”
In fact, Pesquera explained, the objective is “to protect the Cantabrian population due to the high incidence of this disease”, since 90% of the population has had chickenpox at some point in their lives and, furthermore, from 80 years up to 50% of people suffer a reactivation of the virus.
Thus, he highlighted that the herpes zoster vaccine “has been shown to be very effective” in preventing the disease, which increases its incidence after the age of 50 and reaches its peak at 65. It is estimated that around 20% of the population could end up suffering from herpes zoster and the risk increases with age. So much so that, in general, it occurs in people older than 50* years and those 60* or older are more prone to serious complications.
TARGET POPULATION
At the moment, the SCS has begun to vaccinate all those people residing in Cantabria who turn 65 during 2023 -born in 1958- and over 18 years of age with risk factors, whether or not they previously had the disease. Gradually, vaccination coverage will be expanded from 65 to 80 years of age.
Specifically, risk groups eligible for vaccination are considered to be patients over 18 years of age with hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplants, being treated with anti-Jak drugs, HIV, malignant blood diseases or solid tumors being treated with chemotherapy.
Herpes zoster affects peripheral nerves and the skin, where it can produce small, ring-shaped painful blisters grouped along the nerve distribution zone (dermatome), which is why it is also known more colloquially as shingles or fire shingles. Saint Anthony.
“Although it is not a disease with high mortality, it is an extremely painful and disabling pathology, which can be prolonged over time and present complications,” said the head of Health.
In fact, the most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia, a very painful, debilitating, and even disabling condition that causes shingles to hurt for a long time because damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated pain messages from the skin to the brain. brain.
In addition, it can cause loss of vision, if it affects the eye area, neurological problems and superinfections in the affected skin, among other complications. Cases of myocarditis (myocardial inflammation) or involvement of various organs such as the kidney, liver or pancreas, hearing loss, facial paralysis or brain inflammation have also been described.
In the words of the counselor, as with many other pathologies, in the case of patients belonging to risk groups or immunocompromised, the risk of complications is much higher.
Today’s conference, promoted by the General Directorate of Public Health and the sub-directorate of Care, Training and Care Continuity of the Cantabrian Health Service (SCS), has been structured into two round tables. The head of the Valdecilla Immunology Service, Marcos López Hoyos, and the professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the Rey Juan Carlos University, Ángel, participated in the first one, dedicated to the general aspects of the hespes zoster vaccine. Gil de Miguel.
In the second of the tables, called ‘Adult vaccination in Cantabria’, the head of the Public Health Service, Manuel Galán; the pediatrician at the El Alisal health center, María del Carmen Rodríguez Campos, and the nurse responsible for vaccinations at the Doctor Morante health center, María del Mar Campo.
Read more
