Written by Dr Aisha Harris
Are you over 18 years old? Well, there are still vaccines that are recommended for you. Not just the flu vaccine or the infamous COVID vaccine. But other very important vaccines are essential for prevention and decreasing complications.
We often forget that adults need vaccines, too. Children get many vaccines before they even start school and many more before they graduate high school. But adults, adults need to stay “caught up” on vaccines too or need to “catch up” on their vaccines to stay healthy and prevent medical problems.
When adults get vaccines, they not only decrease risk of death, but also hospitalizations, severe infection and major complications, especially if they have chronic medical diseases. There are three vaccines that should be highlighted for adults outside of the annual flu vaccines and now regularly recommended COVID booster vaccines. The three vaccines that do not get enough attention are the pneumococcal vaccines, tetanus vaccines and shingles vaccines, which are some recommended vaccines for adults.
The pneumococcal vaccines, tetanus vaccines and shingles vaccines do have regular vaccine schedule periods and frequencies for adults. But there are also special considerations to get these vaccines on a different or alternate schedule.
The pneumococcal vaccine is a vaccine that helps prevent severe complications for those who have pneumonia, a bacterial lung infection. The pneumococcal vaccine has a diverse set of recommendations, but for the average adult with normal risk factors, it is recommended that they receive the pneumococcal vaccine starting at 65 years old.
Adults with risk factors for severe complications if they developed pneumonia have different recommendations. Some of the reasons for adults, ages 19 to 64 years old, to get the pneumococcal vaccine earlier than 65 years old include alcohol use disorder, diabetes, COPD, asthma, HIV, heart failure and those who smoke cigarettes. People with chronic medical problems should ask their primary care doctor about their risk factors for severe pneumonia and if they meet the criteria for being administered the pneumococcal vaccine.
At base, the tetanus vaccine is protecting against a bacteria that lives in soil and manure.
When most people think of tetanus vaccines, they think of moments of stepping on a rusty nail and getting a tetanus shot. One of the good things about the tetanus vaccine in adulthood is it is a vaccine that adults should get every 10 years, once per decade.
There are different circumstances where a tetanus vaccine is recommended earlier than every 10 years, and most of those situations involve increasing wound infection. Some examples include after stepping on nail, getting bites from dogs and humans, or getting any wound contaminated by dirt, soil, feces or saliva. Tetanus infections can get ugly so having protection from the infection through the vaccines can decrease bad would infections, no matter the size of the wound.
Now shingles infections would likely decrease in prevalence over time because they present years, usually decades, after someone has the chicken pox infection because of reactivation of the virus.
There is a chicken pox vaccine. So, many of the younger population are better protected against chicken pox and have decreased risk of developing shingles, the reactivation of chicken pox.
No matter an individual’s chicken pox history, it is recommended that adults get the shingles vaccine starting at age 50 years old to increase protection. Additionally, those 19 to 49 years old should talk to their primary care doctor about the shingles vaccines if they are immunocompromised or have a weakened immune system because of injury or disease.
Overall, adults should receive the pneumococcal vaccine starting at 65 years old, the shingles vaccines starting at 50 years old, and the tetanus vaccine every 10 year unless they have an indication for an alternative vaccine recommendation.
For shingles and pneumococcal vaccines, adults should talk to their primary care doctor to discuss their personal medical history and immunization recommendations.
For tetanus vaccines, adults should remember that dirty or contaminated wounds are reasons to consider a tetanus vaccine and provide medical care.
Adults have many vaccines that are important for prevention and should be maintained on a regular schedule. Talk to your primary care doctor to check your vaccine status and see if you need to catch up on your vaccines or are caught up on vaccines recommended for you.
Dr Aisha Harris, MD is a Flint native and board-certified family medicine doctor at Harris Family Health in Flint, Michigan. Harris Family Health is a membership-based clinic that provides personalized and full primary care to adults and children. Learn more about Harris Family Health by visiting www.harrisfamilyhealth.com. Feel free to submit health questions to Dr Harris via theflintcouriernews@gmail.com.
