f you can’t remember
the last time you got a vaccine,
call your doctor now.
By Jessica Snyder Sachs
Republished from Prevention.com
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On a mid-August morning two summers ago, Debbie
Twenge started coughing. Just a cold, thought the resident
of Dundee, Oregon, now 56. But the body-racking cough
got worse–much worse. Over the next six weeks, Twenge
had to make two trips to the emergency room. One
particularly frightening evening, her daughter called 911
when Twenge’s throat closed up during a coughing fit.
“I thought I was going to die,” she recalls.
So it was with great interest that Twenge recently learned
that the CDC now recommends all adults get a booster
shot to protect themselves against this “childhood”
disease. Health officials estimate that the vaccine could
prevent more than 8,000 adult infections and 30 to 40
deaths each year. “If I had known what pertussis was like,
I would have jumped at the chance to be vaccinated,”
says Twenge.
By the end of September, her doctor was suggesting
tranquilizers–“as if I was just a nervous female,” Twenge
says with outrage. That’s when her husband read about
a local outbreak of whooping cough, aka pertussis. A test
quickly revealed she had it, but it took 6 months for her to
recover from the lingering inflammation and injury to her
breathing passages.
Chances are, when you hit adulthood, you figured that
you were pretty much done with vaccines, except for the
occasional flu shot. But it’s time to roll up your sleeve.
Experts say the right vaccines can prevent pain and
misery–and could even save your life.
Smart CHOICES | SUMMER 2008
Still hesitant? Worried about side effects? Don’t be. Here’s
the lowdown on the shots you need and when–and
why you want them.
Get it now
Tdap booster
Prevents whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus
You probably got a pertussis shot as a child, or maybe even
had a bout of whooping cough, and think you’re immune.
But experts now realize that neither immunization nor
infection provides lifelong protection. In fact, immunity
wanes within 10 years, explains Anne Schuchat, MD,
director of the CDC’s National Immunization Program.
That’s a big reason there’s been a massive resurgence of
pertussis over the past 20 years–more than 25,500 cases in
the United States in 2005.
Protect yourself: The next time you’re due for your
10-year tetanus-diphtheria shot (Td)—and yes, you
should be getting a tetanus booster every decade—ask
for the Tdap booster, which includes protection against
pertussis. Get the shot now if you’re in close contact with a
baby or someone whose immune system has been weakened by age, chemotherapy, or HIV infection—they might
not survive if you pass pertussis to them. (You can get a
Tdap booster as soon as 2 years after a previous
Td vaccine.)
MMR
Prevents mumps, measles, and rubella
Just when we’d almost vanquished mumps, the viral
infection is making a comeback. In a typical year, fewer
than 300 Americans catch mumps, but in 2006, there
were more than 5,800 cases! The reason may be found
in England: Lagging childhood immunization rates there
have led to a comeback of this disease, and tourists may
have carried it here. In adults, mumps can be serious: 1 in
20 women develops swelling of the ovaries; 1 in 5 men,
inflammation of the testes. Rarely, adult mumps can cause
potentially deadly encephalitis (an infection of the brain).
If you were born between 1957 and 1967, you’re
particularly susceptible to catching mumps, because
the version of the vaccine your pediatrician gave you
wasn’t effective enough to provide reliable lifelong
protection.
Flu vaccine
Prevents flu—and potentially deadly pneumonia
Late in 2003 and into 2004, doctors in the Baltimore area
were helpless to save a previously healthy man in his 50s
when he developed an antibiotic-resistant form of
pneumonia on the heels of the flu. Three others—
women in their 20s and 30s—nearly died the same way.
The bug behind those drug-resistant pneumonias is a new
and nasty strain of Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA—and
researchers say flu raises the risk of catching it. There are
plenty of other reasons to avoid the flu: 36,000 people die
each year from flu-related complications. That’s why the
CDC now says that all adults should get an annual flu shot.
Protect yourself: This fall, get a flu shot or a spritz of the
new nasal vaccine, FluMist (approved for adults up to age
50). It’s best to get immunized in October or November,
but immunization as late as January is still worthwhile—
the flu often peaks as late as March.
Get it when you turn 60
Zostavax
Prevents shingles and postherpetic neuralgia
One in four people who have had chicken­pox eventually
develops the blistering rash of shingles—caused when the
chickenpox virus, Varicella zoster, is reactivated. Around 40
percent will go on to suffer what’s been described as the
worst kind of pain imaginable. Called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), it is so agonizing that it’s been known to lead
some people to suicide.
Protect yourself: As soon as you hit 60, get a dose of
Zostavax, approved by the FDA last year. Schuchat predicts that people in their 50s will eventually be urged to
get the vaccine, too, if ongoing tests show that it’s equally
effective in their age group. You’ve never had chicken­pox?
Then definitely get the chickenpox vaccine, Varivax, as
well. Adult chicken-pox has a substantially higher risk of
complications, such as pneumonia and potentially deadly
encephalitis.
Protect yourself: If you’re not sure you had mumps
or received two MMR doses after 1967, get this vaccine
ASAP. (Kids need two shots 28 days apart; as an adult,
you’ll get only one.)
www.cabenefits.org
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