Psychoneuroimmunology Course and a “Flu” Shot

Subject: Immunology
Pages: 2
Words: 344
Reading time:
2 min

The peculiar feature of such diseases like flu is that people do not have appropriate native defenses, which will help to minimize the infection as soon as it gets to the human body. It is very important to pay more attention to the time and the conditions under which flu shots are given. In case a 70-year-old patient comes to the doctor in order to ask whether it is necessary to get a flu shot at his age, the answer should be certainly positive.

Making use of knowledge of age-related changes in the human immune system, the doctor should understand that people over 60 are at high risk of getting flu within a short period of time. Many people do not believe that flu can be as serious disease as cancer or pneumonia, for example. People with flue may easily go to work and continue communicating with their friends and colleagues. Unfortunately, this disease should never be neglected, and people over 60 should be very attentive to the possibility of getting flue. There are several reasons why the patient should get a flu shot in this case.

The point is that the decline of immunity function because of age-related reasons is evident and influenced as innate as well as adaptive immunity. This is why if a person gets a chance to improve their immune system, this chance should be used. Even if nowadays many people admit that the so-called vaccine is not as effective as it should be, there are a number of positive aspects due to which people have to agree to get a shot. Another reason has more personal grounds. In this case, the patient is already aware of the possibility of protecting his immune system. And the investigations prove that people who know that a vaccine may protect them from flu face fewer problems than those who are not aware. Even from a purely psychological point of view, the 70-year-old patient should get a flu shot.