There may be some vaccines you need, depending on your age and health conditions.
What’s on the list?
Childhood vaccines lay the foundation for adult health. But you’re not done because you reach voting age. There are more vaccines in the CDC’s recommended adult immunization schedule. They include:
- Hepatitis A & B (Hepatitis A vaccine, Hepatitis B vaccine)
- Human papillomavirus (HPV vaccine)
- Influenza (flu vaccine)
- Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR vaccine)
- Meningitis (meningococcal vaccine)
- Pneumonia (Pneumococcal vaccine)
- Tetanus and diphtheria (Td vaccine)
- Tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough/pertussis (Tdap vaccine)
- Chickenpox (varicella vaccine)
- Shingles (herpes zoster vaccine)
Ask your doctor if they recommend any other vaccines based on your current health conditions, upcoming travel plans, or other health concerns.
It’s not just about you
Vaccines also help everyone around you. Think of your family. Are there any babies on the way? The Tdap vaccine protects you against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough, also known as pertussis. Whooping cough can be dangerous or even deadly for a newborn, who is too young to be vaccinated. Being vaccinated helps prevent you from passing a disease to a child.
Now, think of older family members or people you come into contact with at work, the gym, shopping, or elsewhere. People who have serious illness or are undergoing cancer treatment have weakened immune systems. They’re vulnerable to infection. Something as simple as you getting an annual flu vaccine or the shingles vaccine can help protect them as well as you.
Vaccination is crucial at every age
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) offers ten reasons for people to get vaccinated. It’s important to remember that vaccine-preventable diseases still exist. NFID reports that approximately 50,000 adults die from vaccine-preventable disease each year in the United States.
Talk to your doctor
Your doctor will recommend what vaccines you need based on your age, medical conditions, and other factors. As a general guide, look at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine recommendations.
Additional sources: https://acpinternist.org/archives/2019/10/immunization-is-everyones-issue.htm; https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/downloads/matte-grandparents.pdf
This article was first published on the Live Well blog by our affiliate company, ConnectiCare.
