2023-11-20 10:01:00
The risk of illness increases with age, experts say. With more than 22 million women and men over the age of 60 living in Germany, the over-60 generation is more fit and active than ever before. However, the risk of illnesses also increases as the immune system weakens, leading to diseases such as shingles, also known as herpes zoster, occurring particularly frequently after the age of 60.
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the pathogen that usually causes chickenpox in childhood. After surviving chickenpox, the virus retreats to nerve nodes in the spinal cord, where they can be kept in check by the immune system. However, if the immune system weakens due to age or illness, the virus can be reactivated, resulting in shingles, characterized by a painful rash and flu-like symptoms.
Complications and long-term consequences can arise in approximately 30 percent of cases, including severe nerve pain, bacterial infection, and for those with a weakened immune system, pneumonia, hepatitis, or meningitis. To help prevent the occurrence and severe course of shingles, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) recommends that all people over 60 years of age receive a preventative vaccination against shingles.
For those seeking information about shingles, experts in general and internal medicine will be available for consultation on Thursday, November 23, 2023, between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The call to +498000604000 is free of charge from all German networks.
Dr. Markus Frühwein, a specialist in general medicine, travel and tropical medicine, and nutritional medicine from the practice of Dr. Frühwein & Partner in Munich, as well as Prof. Dr. med. Jörg Schelling, a specialist in internal medicine and general medicine with a practice in Martinsried, will be available to answer questions about shingles during the consultation hours.]
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