Experts urge elderly not to delay getting vaccinated

• By Chang Hsuan-che
  and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Elderly people should get vaccinated against influenza and pneumonia, a Taichung-based doctor warned amid soaring chronic pulmonary disease cases in the past weeks.

The spread of the flu and fluctuating variances in day and night temperatures are sparking chronic respiratory infections in many older Taiwanese, Huang Chao-hsin (黃朝新), a chest internalist at the Lee Hospital’s Taichung branch in Dajia District (大甲) said.

The infections often strike with little to no early symptoms despite being serious enough to cause hospitalizations later, he said.

Photo: CNA

Symptoms might include coughing, chest pain or tightness, difficulty breathing and asthma attacks, he added.

Many patients mistook their infections for a garden-variety cold and failed to seek medical help before their condition worsened, he said, adding that chronic pulmonary obstruction-related diseases were behind 70 percent of hospitalizations last month.

The absence of early symptoms is common in patients aged 60 to 70 years, but has also been observed in people as young as 50 years, Huang said.

Many elderly people with functional decline are unable to remove phlegm by coughing and could develop pneumonia, which can become fatal in serious cases, he said, adding that symptoms might include fever, difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.

Older people must be protected against cold weather and inoculated, he said, citing the example of an elderly patient who has been getting sick almost every two months.

Inhalable medicines could be used to mitigate the severity of symptoms, while chest expansion exercises that boost lung capacity are often recommended to patients, he said.

“Do not postpone sending a person to a clinic or hospital if they experience symptoms of a cold or flu,” he said.