Dr Nazeer H Khan - Understanding Vaccination for the Elderly Population

Dr Nazeer Haider Khan of Tampa details the importance of vaccinations for the elderly and how it not only benefits their health but also the community.

Importance of Vaccinating Against Diseases

As time goes by, more and more health challenges arise due to several reasons. These reasons include an increase in physical inactivity because of the changing work landscape, as well as environmental degradation caused by climate change and other crises. The health challenges that accompany these events include virus outbreaks that usually turn out to be vaccine-preventable diseases.

There are two main benefits of vaccination: individual immunity and herd immunity. Individual immunity provides personal protection against targeted diseases for a long time, sometimes for life. On the other hand, herd immunity is an amazing occurrence that only happens in a community with high vaccination rates. When enough people are immune to a particular disease, the disease will have difficulty making its way to individuals, even if they aren't vaccinated.

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This is a great way to help those who are unable to receive vaccinations. Such includes newborns, people with chronic illnesses, and individuals or families who can't afford or don't have access to it. Herd immunity also protects people who got the vaccine but weren't fully immunized against the disease.

Necessary Vaccination for the Elderly Population

A lot of people are skeptical about vaccination due to unfounded fear of immunization and common misconceptions about how vaccines work. Other more heartbreaking reasons are lack of access to medical help and health insurance, as well as miseducation. These barriers make it doubly difficult for elderly patients. Pharmacists are usually their most accessible healthcare providers, so these health specialists must have a keen understanding and application skills. That way, they can make sure that even the older population are given proper counseling when it comes to vaccines.

Assuming that they were religious about their childhood and subsequent adult vaccines, the elderly patient population must receive shots for influenza, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, zoster, and pneumococcal immunization. Below is the vaccination for the elderly schedule for reference:

·      Influenza vaccine: once every year

·      Tdap vaccine: once every ten years

·      Zoster vaccine: once for 50-year-old adults and older in 2 different doses 2 to 6 months apart

·      Pneumococcal vaccine: 2 vaccine regimens anywhere from 1 to 5 years apart depending on the primary care physician's advice

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that influenza vaccines be administered at most by the end of October due to the unpredictable flu season. Based on their data from 1982 to 2018, peak influenza activity does not occur until January, February, or later.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world will likely face another influenza pandemic, but it is unknown when and how severe it will be. Therefore, it is vital to strengthen global defenses against the virus. The aged population has an increased risk of getting the disease, so it is doubly important for them and those around them to be up-to-date on their vaccination for the elderly schedule. Over 1 million unnecessary deaths can be avoided if global vaccination increases in coverage.

Now is the time to take advantage of modern medicine and join the international community that values vaccines and immunization. This is a cost-effective public health intervention that should be known and implemented across the globe. Supporting vaccination for the elderly is a great start.

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Dr. Nazeer Haider Khan has state medical licensing in both Illinois and Florida. Today, he is involved in numerous medical organizations and serves as the Chief Medical Officer at South East Physician Association; Shareholder and Senior Advisor to QHP Financial Group, Inc.; Advisor at Brickell Capital Finance; Managing Partner at Sigma Health, LLC; CEO at NHK MD Consulting, Inc.; and Executive Vice President at Medical Care Associates IPA.