INFLUENZA (FLU)
- All adults, regardless of age, should receive the vaccine.
- It’s given once a year because the virus changes itself.
- Seniors are most vulnerable.
- The flu can lead to hospitalization and even death.
- Studies show the vaccination can reduce the risk of illness by 40% to 60%.
PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE (PNEUMONIA)
- Healthy adults 65 years and older or adults 19 to 64 with certain risk factors should receive the vaccine.
- Two doses of the vaccine are necessary at separate times.
- Pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, kills more people in the United States each year than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined.
TDAP (TETANUS, DIPHTHERIA, PERTUSSIS)
- Everyone should get the vaccination and a Tdap booster every 10 years.
- Tdap protects against pertussis, also known as whooping cough, which has been on the rise for several years.
- This vaccine is important for anyone having close contact with infants.
SHINGLES (HERPES ZOSTER)
- CDC recommends that everyone 50 and older, even if they had the former vaccine, Zostavax, and even if they already had shingles, get the vaccine.
- Two doses of the vaccine are given six months apart.
- One in three people will get shingles, and the risk rises with age. After a person recovers from chicken pox, the virus remains dormant for decades, ready to appear when the immune system is weakened by stress, medication or disease.
- About 15% of sufferers are left with severe nerve pain.
- Even if you don’t remember having chicken pox, you should get the vaccine.
COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS)
- Anyone 12 and older should be vaccinated.
- Some vaccines are single dose while others require two doses, given three to four weeks apart.
- It’s unclear how long immunity lasts and whether booster vaccinations will be required.
- More data is needed to determine the effectiveness of the vaccine, but the CDC believes the vaccine is working well.
- COVID-19 is especially risky for older adults and those with underlying conditions.
HEPATITIS A (HAV)
- The vaccine is for people 50 and older who are high risk for Hepatitis A, a disease of the liver.
- Infections result primarily from travel to another country where transmission is common through close contact with a Hepatitis A infected individual or from recreational drug use.
- Two doses of the vaccine are given six months apart.
HEPATITIS B
- Adults 50 and older who are at risk of contract ing Hepatitis B, a liver infection, should get the vaccine.
- Hepatitis B is transmitted through body fluid – blood, semen, saliva – from an infected person.
- Adults must get three doses at intervals.