Once your parents finished the rounds of shots required during elementary school, and for some, the HPV shots during the teen years, vaccinating likely became an afterthought.
What most people don’t realize is that with vaccines, one shot doesn’t last forever. As you age, your need to be revaccinated increases as each year passes. If you haven’t followed the schedule, here is an easy-to-follow guide on what you need to stay the course. Remember, all below recommendations should be corroborated by your doctor)
Chickenpox
Adults who never got the chickenpox vaccine when they were kids should schedule a visit with their general practitioners to get the needed two doses.
Director of Geriatrics for the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, Dr. Mark S. Lachs, says this about older adults getting their chickenpox shots, “In someone who has never had chickenpox, the vaccine would protect against a disease that is far more serious in adults than it is in children.” The fatality rate for adult chickenpox is 25 times higher than that for kids.
Shingles
Even if you had the chickenpox as a child, you still need to get the shingles vaccination as an adult. The varicella-roster virus (chickenpox) lies dormant in your body your entire life -- whether you got it naturally or it was injected via a vaccine. It can reactivate in your nerves decades after the initial exposure.
When varicella-roster reactivates, adults can get shingles. The rash develops as a stripe of blisters around one side of your body. Elderly adults (age 70 and above) may have weakened immune systems and are more at risk for complications.
Flu
This vaccine might be the one that you sought out and received within the past couple years. With the rise of the “Minute Clinic” at CVS, it is easier than ever to get your annual flu shot. Since the flu virus mutates each year, it unfortunately means you have to get the shot year after year.
As soon as you see the signs advertising its availability, get yours. If they’re in high demand, you run the risk of a shortage. Following the flu shot, don’t be surprised if you feel a little icky (headache, fatigue) for the rest of the day after you get it. For most people, that is the extent of the side effects, which are much more preferable to missing an entire week of work if you get the flu.
Hepatitis A/Hepatitis B
If you didn’t get Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B shots as a child, then you may be due for them as an adult -- but only if certain lifestyle or health factors apply to you.
Hepatitis A is a liver disease that is usually contracted by contact with the stool of an infected person. If you are caring for an elderly person or child who has Hepatitis A and particles of feces make their way into your body via food or water, then you are at risk for contracting the disease. Hepatitis A is also related to unsanitary living conditions that you might frequent if you travel to a third-world country.
As for Hepatitis B, it also attacks the liver and can cause cirrhosis. Unlike Hep A, you can’t get Hep B through food and water. Instead, the carrier must exchange body fluids with someone who doesn’t have it for it to be transmitted.
You should get a Hep B shot as an adult (two doses) if you didn’t as a child, and if you engage in these risky activities.
• Unprotected sex
• Sharing needles
• Sharing razors or toothbrushes
• Come into direct contact with another’s blood (who has the disease)
HPV
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most widely spread sexually transmitted infection. You get it through “intimate relations,” notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They report that, “HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives.” As a woman, the CDC recommends that if you didn’t get vaccinated as a pre-teen then get a “catch-up” vaccination (up until age 26).
So if everyone has it, then what’s the point in getting the vaccine? Right? Wrong. HPV can cause cancer, most commonly cervical cancer in women. However, men are also at risk; they can develop throat cancer from oral sexual relations with someone carrying the HPV virus. The vaccination for HPV comes in three doses for women aged 19 and up and in six doses for men of the same age.
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella
Declining a party invitation because you are sick with the measles, mumps or rubella (MMR) is virtually unheard of. However, before the MMR vaccines were developed, these diseases were prevalent, albeit mostly in children.
Since they aren’t typical contemporary illnesses, let’s review what each one looks like.
• Measles: rash, fever and cough eventually leading to seizures and brain damage
• Mumps: fever, headache, and swollen glands, unchecked can lead to deafness, meningitis and swelling of the ovaries or testicles
• Rubella: rash, arthritis, and fever, if a pregnant woman gets it she could have a miscarriage or a baby with birth defects
These three diseases are airborne. Adults should get an MMR vaccination if they didn’t receive the MMR vaccinations as a child, are over the age of 18 and were born after 1956.
There are a variety of factors that influence whether adults should get vaccinations. Your age and lifestyle are the two major considerations. Tell your general practitioner about any out-of-country travel you plan on taking. Finally, knowing your immunization history is essential before considering getting additional shots. This can be difficult for those who moved a lot as children or whose parents are no longer living.
The good news is that technology has made it easier to stay on top of those vaccinations. The CDC offers a tool called My Family Health Portrait on their website which enables you to track your family’s health history. You can enter health issues on the site and use it to identify genetic health conditions based on the info that you enter. Most useful is that you can print it out and bring it with you to your healthcare providers to maximize face time with them.