Immunization Recommendations For Adults

Today, there are few visible reminders of the suffering, injuries, and premature deaths caused by diseases that are now preventable with vaccines.  Thanks to immunization, diseases that were once commonplace are now only distant memories for most Americans.

The germs responsible for vaccine-preventable diseases such as chickenpox, pneumococcal disease, influenza, and hepatitis A and B do not distinguish between young and old, rich or poor, or racial or cultural heritage.  While some diseases are more commonly associated with the very young, the elderly, or the sick, unvaccinated people of all ages are susceptible to serious, debilitating, and potentially deadly vaccine-preventable diseases.

Adults Should Be Vaccinated Against...

Some adults incorrectly assume that the vaccines they received as children will protect them for the rest of their lives.  Generally this is true, except that:  

• Some adults were never vaccinated as children.
• More advanced vaccines were not available when some adults were children.
• Immunity can begin to fade over time.
• As we age, we become more susceptible to serious disease caused by common infections (i.e., influenza, pneumococcus).
  
  

  Disease	How Spread	Symptoms	Possible Risks
  Chickenpox (Given to people who have not had the disease)	Airborne droplets from an infected person sneezing or coughing spread it.	Causes rash, fever, and tiredness.	Severe skin infection, scars, pneumonia, brain damage, and death.
  Hepatitis A	Usually spread by the stool-to-mouth route. This most often occurs through contact with other people, but people may also get it from contaminated food or water.	Fever, fatigue, yellow skin and eyes, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and dark urine.	Severity of illness increases with age, but complete recovery without further complications is likely.
  Hepatitis B	Spread through blood, saliva, semen and other body fluids.	Generally begins with mild symptoms that may or may not become severe. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, yellow skin and eyes, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and dark urine.	Liver disease, liver cancer, death.
  Influenza *	Spread by coughs and sneezes. Flu may sometimes be spread when a person touches a surface that has flu viruses on it – a door handle, for instance – and then touches his or her nose or mouth.	Fever and chills, dry cough, runny nose, body aches, headache, and sore throat.	Pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinus and ear infections are three examples of complications from flu.  The flu can make chronic health problems worse.
  Measles (Given to people who have not had the disease)	Spread through coughs and sneezes.	Measles virus causes rash, runny nose, red watery eyes, cough, and fever.	Pneumonia, convulsions, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), death.
  Mumps (Given to people who have not had the disease)	Spread through coughs and sneezes.	Mumps virus causes fever, headache, and swollen glands.	Painful swelling of the testicles and ovaries, encephalitis, meningitis (inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord), deafness.
  Rubella (German measles) Given to people who have not had the disease)	Spread through coughs and sneezes.	Rubella virus causes rash, mild fever, swollen glands, and arthritis.	Pregnant women may have a miscarriage or stillbirth.
  Pneumococcal Disease	Spread through coughs and sneezes or through articles freshly soiled with discharges.	Pneumococcal pneumonia begins suddenly with severe chills, high fever, cough, and stabbing chest pains.	Death.
  Tetanus (Lockjaw)	Infection enters the body through a contaminated wound (either major or minor). It is not contagious from person to person. It is the only vaccine-preventable disease that is infectious, but not contagious.	Early signs include stiffness in the face and neck, headache, and irritability.	As the poison spreads, the jaw, neck, and limbs become locked in spasms. The stomach muscles grow rigid. Painful convulsions occur.
  Diphtheria	Spread through coughs and sneezes.	In its early stages, diphtheria may be mistaken for a sore throat, coupled with fever and chills.	Diphtheria can lead to problems with breathing, abnormal heart rhythms, and paralysis of the vocal cords and limbs. It can lead to death.

* Influenza

Each year, influenza, also known as “the flu,” causes on average about 20,000 deaths in the U.S. alone.  Most of those deaths are among seniors.  Because flu season in the U.S. is from November to spring, the best protection is vaccination in October. 

  Who should get the vaccine?  You should be vaccinated against influenza if:

•   You are age 65 or older, no matter how healthy.

•   You are living in a long-term care facility.

•   You have serious long-term health problems like heart, lung, or  
    kidney disease; diabetes; anemia or other blood disorders.

•   Your immune system is weakened because of HIV/AIDS, cancer 
    treatment with x-rays or drugs, or treatment with drugs such as 
    long-term  steroids.

•   You will be more than 3 months pregnant during flu season

•   Children between the ages of 6 months and 23 months. Two shots
    are required the first year, given one month apart.

  Immunization Schedule for Adults
  (Anyone over 18 years of age)

  As recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  Adult’s Age	Vaccine
  All Adults Should Receive	Diphtheria-Tetanus vaccine Hepatitis A and B vaccines Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine * Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine *
  Adults Age 50 and Older	Influenza vaccine (for the flu)
  Adults Age 65 and Older	Influenza vaccine (for the flu) Pneumococcal vaccine (for pneumonia)

  *Vaccine given to people who have not had the disease.