Vaccination for older adults

Flu and flu vaccination

Influenza, or flu, is an acute infection of the respiratory system with the influenza virus. Many people aren't aware of how serious flu can be. Globally, around 5 million people become seriously ill with flu each year. In South Africa, over 20 000 people need hospitalisation for flu every year.

Most of these hospitalisations happen to people who are particularly at risk for severe flu, including people over the age of 65 years, people with chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease or asthma, people living with HIV, pregnant women and young children.

Flu is transmitted between people through respiratory droplets which are released when a person who has the flu coughs or sneezes. Someone with the flu can transmit the virus to others before they have symptoms as well as during their illness

In uncomplicated or mild flu, which accounts for the majority of infections, symptoms may include fever, cough, headache, muscle pain, sore throat and a runny or blocked nose. These symptoms usually resolve within three to seven days, although the cough may persist for a couple of weeks. In more serious cases of flu, complications can include pneumonia, difficulty breathing, organ failure and aggravation of chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent flu. Since the sub-type or strain of flu varies each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) makes vaccine recommendations for each flu season. This means that a person needs to vaccinate against flu every year, before the flu season begins. In South Africa this is ideally before the end of April.

Getting the flu vaccine is particularly important during the COVID 19 pandemic and South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases strongly recommends that everyone gets the flu shot this year.

The flu vaccine will not prevent people from contracting COVID 19, but flu and COVID 19 are likely to co circulate this winter. So getting vaccinated will help alleviate the burden on the health system.

Pneumococcal disease and pneumococcal vaccination

Pneumococcal disease is caused by infection with the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. Pneumococcal infection can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, or bacteraemia which is an infection of the blood.

Pneumococcal disease spreads between people through coughing, sneezing and close contact. Symptoms of infection depend on the nature of the pneumococcal infection. Symptoms of pneumococcal pneumonia may include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, while symptoms of pneumococcal meningitis may include fever, neck stiffness, nausea, vomiting or mental changes.

Pneumococcal disease can be particularly serious in older adults and people with certain chronic medical conditions. America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults over the age of 65 years should receive pneumococcal vaccination. For more information about the pneumococcal vaccine, speak to your doctor.

Shingles and zoster vaccination

Shingles is a painful and itchy skin condition caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Most people get chickenpox during childhood or early adult life and they usually become immune to chickenpox once they have recovered.

Sometimes when a person has completely recovered from chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus continues to live in a dormant state in the nerve roots of the body. With age, there is an increased risk that this dormant virus reactivates later in life, leading to shingles.

The shingles rash usually appears as a well defined strip on one side of the body, commonly the face or the torso. The shingles rash usually resolves within two to four weeks, but in some people the pain and discomfort can last months or even years after the rash has resolved. This condition is called post herpetic neuralgia.

According to the CDC, people over the age of 60 should receive the zoster vaccine, whether they recall having chickenpox or not and whether they have suffered from shingles previously or not. The shingles vaccine is a single or two dose vaccine that does not need to be repeated annually.

Other vaccines

The flu vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine and shingles vaccine are commonly included in vaccination guidelines for older adults, but this is not an all inclusive list. There are more vaccines for other conditions that you may be eligible for based on your risk status and prior history.

If you have any questions or concerns about vaccination, speak to your doctor.