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老年人的疫苗注射

西雅图——世界人口越来越多——而且年纪越来越大。随着老年人越来越接近在数量上超过年轻人——截止2050年，65岁及以上的老年人将接近达到4岁以下幼儿的3倍——很多人担忧政府预算、医疗保健系统以及经济方面的负担将变得不可持续。但我们可以采取某些措施来缓解这样的负担：那就是改善老年人的健康状况。

随着年龄的增长，我们的身体会发生复杂的变化，后果之一是我们对感染作出反应并产生免疫的能力会逐渐削弱（人们将这称之为免疫衰老）。老年人疾病因此往往更加严重，比年轻患者罹患同样疾病在生活质量、残疾和死亡率方面造成更为严重的后果。

简言之，老年人的免疫系统需要支持。疫苗在这方面可以发挥重要的作用。

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