The Saudi Society of Family Medicine celebrated its receipt of the Guinness World Records certificate, after achieving a new record by gathering the largest number of pledges for the shingles awareness campaign in 24 hours.
This record was set during an awareness event in Riyadh’s Boulevard City, to highlight shingles disease, its negative effects on those infected and the best ways to prevent it. During the event, questions were answered regarding the nature of the disease, how it spreads among men and women, the reasons for its occurrence, its most common and serious complications as well as the most effective methods of prevention to avoid the disease, including which age groups are most in need of immunization.
This event, held in cooperation with GSK, is the second one organized by the Saudi Society of Family Medicine at the Boulevard City. The event, from Jan. 3 to 9, attracted the participation of many attendees, who obtained health advice as well as the measurement of their body mass index.
Dr. Ashraf Amir, vice president of the Saudi Society of Family Medicine, expressed appreciation for the interactive nature of the attendees, which he said indicates the extent of their interest in health education and raising awareness about various diseases. He also praised the role of Saudi medical societies in organizing awareness campaigns and the great role they play in Saudi society to enhance societal health, in accordance with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, to spread awareness, health education and knowledge about the nature of diseases, their causes, complications, and ways to prevent them.
It is worth noting that immunity is greatly affected with age and a person becomes more susceptible to diseases as he gets older. Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. It usually appears as a single line of blisters covering the left or right side of the torso. Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person gets chickenpox or is exposed to the virus, the virus remains dormant in the body for life. As we age, the immune system naturally weakens, which may lead to reactivation of the latent virus that causes shingles. Age is considered the most important factor in increasing infection, as most of the infected cases are in people aged 50 years or older
Physicians always advise following the recommendations of the Saudi Ministry of Health and taking the necessary vaccinations, including the shingles vaccine for the elderly, which has been included in the vaccination schedule released by the Saudi Ministry of Health. Vaccinations protect against many complications that the elderly may not be able to bear, especially with the weakening of the immune system and presence of chronic diseases.
