Disease is more severe if older adults get it; vaccination is advised
by Eveline Gan
05:55 AM May 12, 2009
OLDER adults are often advised to go for regular flu and pneumococcal shots.
Now, doctors are urging them to add another shot - against chicken pox - to their vaccination schedule, if they have not been exposed to the virus during their childhood days.
Each chicken pox jab, which ranges in cost from $80 to $100, is optional in Singapore. Adults require two doses while children below 13 need only one.
The advice came after Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, 67, was hospitalised for chicken pox last week.
It is rare for senior citizens, such as SM Goh, to get chicken pox, said Dr Reshma Merchant, a geriatrician at National University Hospital's University Medicine Cluster.
Dr Merchant explained that this is because about 90 per cent of the population would have had chicken pox when they were less than 15 years old. She added that it is more common for seniors to get shingles - caused by a reactivation of the chicken pox virus - after their earlier childhood attack.
But there are some who aren't immune to it.
"Most people don't consider the fact that if you don't get chicken pox as a child, you might get it as an adult, just like SM Goh did," said Dr Leslie Tay, a general practitioner at Karri Family Clinic.
Sufferers usually experience fever and red, itchy blisters on the body and face.
In most cases, the childhood disease is harmless and "mild". "However, in adults and older people, the disease tends to be much more severe," Dr Tay said.
According to Dr Leong Hoe Nam, a consultant at Singapore General Hospital's (SGH) department of infectious diseases, adults who get chicken pox often end up with a lot more blisters on their faces and bodies.
"A child may get a few hundred chicken pox lesions, but adults can get several thousands. This causes more severe scarring," said Dr Leong.
More worryingly, he added, older adults have a higher risk of chicken pox-related complications. Under five per cent of adult chicken pox sufferers require hospitalisation, Dr Leong estimated.
Dr Sim Kwang Chuor, a general practitioner and medical director of Aesthetic Works Medical Associates, explained that older people generally have lower immune systems.
"They are more prone to severe complications due to the body's reduced ability to fight the virus," said Dr Sim.
Those with impaired immune systems or underlying chronic diseases which decrease immunity, such as diabetes, are also more susceptible to serious complications.
Possible life-threatening complications include secondary bacterial infection, as well as lung and brain infection.
According to Dr Merchant, warning signs of severe chicken pox infection or complications include respiratory symptoms such as breathing difficulties and wheezing, bleeding rashes or densely packed blisters.
Other signs include neurological changes that cause unsteadiness or drowsiness.
A regular bout of chicken pox typically clears up within two weeks.
Prompt treatment and medication, especially within the first 48 hours, can significantly reduce the number of blisters and other symptoms.
"If you think you have chicken pox, my advice is to drop everything and see a doctor straightaway to confirm it and get medication. It can significantly reduce your suffering," said Dr Leong.
How chicken pox spreads
According to SGH's Dr Leong Hoe Nam, you can get chicken pox within 10 to 21 days after contact with an infected person. The person is usually infectious about one day before the rash appears until after the blisters dry up.
The highly contagious virus is present in saliva and in the fluid of the vesicles (blisters).
"When the affected person sneezes or coughs, the virus gets into the air and is inhaled by others. It can also spread through direct contact since the virus is also on the skin of the affected person when the vesicles burst," said general practitioner Dr Leslie Tay.
The virus is so contagious that if someone in your household gets it, there's an 80 to 100 per cent chance that it will infect you if you haven't been exposed to the virus before, said Dr Leong.
From TODAY, Health – Tuesday, 12-May-2009
----------
The revolutionary health and beauty products
Related articles
No comments:
Post a Comment