The relationship between Covid and shingles puts the population of Salamanca at risk

In people with covid much higher risk of developing shingles during coronavirus infection. CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health published this discovery in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The study, which focused on Spanish patients, recalls that complications associated with Covid can affect the lungs, heart, kidneys, etc., but it has also been shown to cause weakening of the immune system, which can lead to activation of the varicella zoster virus.which occurs in the vast majority of adults and which takes advantage of the situation of immune depression to reactivate itself and cause the famous “shingles”.

According to the data collected in this study, the risk of developing shingles while co-infected with Covid increases with age. but it increases sharply among patients admitted to intensive care units. At the same time, the probability of developing shingles in people over 18 years of age increases to 64%.

The Ministry of Health of Castile and León has been running an information campaign for many years about the importance of vaccination against herpes zoster. Accordingly, the vaccination schedule against this virus has changed. The new schedule expands the target group for shingles vaccination to include people over 80 years of age. -has already done this with people aged 65 years- and thus adapts to the recommendations of the presentation on vaccination programs and registry.

Experts demanded an extension of the calendar in order to avoid spending around 200 euros per dose people who would like this second piercing. And also because vaccination coverage in the Community is not very good, but in Salamanca it is particularly low.

The latest data on vaccination coverage in the Community, which Sacil released, refer to people who were due to be vaccinated during 2023 – before the new calendar came into force – and already showed that coverage was not the desired level: only 15.6% of the target indicator. the population has received the first dose, while the number of those who have received two doses was barely 10.5%: the lowest rates in Castile and León.