Immunizations

Vaccines save lives and protect against the spread of disease. If you decide not to immunize yourself or your loved one, you put them or yourself at risk. You both could catch disease that is dangerous or deadly. Getting vaccinated is much better than getting the disease. Your primary care provider knows that you care about you or your loved ones health and safety. That’s why you need to get all the scientific facts from a medical professional you can trust before making any decisions based on stories you may have seen or heard on TV, the Internet, or from other people.Vaccines work. They have kept people healthy and have saved millions of lives for more than 50 years. Most childhood vaccines are 90% to 99% effective in preventing disease. And if a vaccinated person does get the disease, the symptoms are usually less serious than in a person who hasn’t been vaccinated. There may be mild side effects, like swelling where the shot was given, but they do not last long. And it is rare for side effects to be serious.

Some vaccines may be recommended for adults because of particular job or school-related requirements, health conditions, lifestyle or other factors. For example, some states require students entering colleges and universities to be vaccinated against certain diseases like meningitis due to increased risk among college students living in residential housing.

All adults need a seasonal flu (influenza) vaccine every year. Flu vaccine is especially important for people with chronic health conditions, pregnant women, and older adults.  Every adult should get the Tdap vaccine once if they did not receive it as an adolescent to protect against pertussis (whooping cough), and then a Td (tetanus, diphtheria) booster shot every 10 years. In addition, women should get the Tdap vaccine each time they are pregnant, preferably at 27 through 36 weeks.

Adults Ages 19-26: 

In addition to seasonal flu (influenza) vaccine and Td or Tdap vaccine (Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), you should also get: HPV vaccine which protects against the human papillomaviruses that causes most cervical cancers, anal cancer, and genital warts. It is recommended for: women up to age 26 years men up to age 21 years men ages 22-26 who have sex with men

Adults 50 years or older

Your risk of shingles increases as you grow older. Additionally, over 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations occur in people 65 years and older. As we get older, our immune systems tend to weaken over time, putting us at higher risk for certain diseases. This is why, in addition to seasonal flu (influenza) vaccine and Td or Tdap vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), you should also get: Shingles vaccine, which protects against shingles and the complications from the disease (recommended for healthy adults 50 years and older) Pneumococcal vaccines, which protect against pneumococcal disease, including infections in the lungs and bloodstream (recommended for all adults over 65 years old, and for adults younger than 65 years who have certain chronic health conditions 

If you are going to be traveling out of the country and need to know which vaccines to get, click on the link below:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list