Vaccines aren’t just for kids. A number of adults become ill, are disabled, and die each year from diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines.
According to the Collective Preventive Services (CPS) of Sector Public Health, Social Development & Labour (VSA), everyone from young adults to senior citizens can benefit from immunizations.
Some adults incorrectly assume that the vaccines they received as children will protect them for the rest of their lives. Generally this is not true for the following reasons: some adults were never vaccinated as children; newer vaccines were not available when some adults were children; immunity can begin to fade over time; and as we age, we become more susceptible to serious disease caused by common infections.
Recommended adult vaccines are Hepatitis B for health care workers; Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) for post-partum women; DT (Diphtheria) or Td (Tetanus) for women in childbearing age and gardeners for example; and seasonal influenza vaccine for the elderly 65 and over and other specified groups and people suffering from long term conditions.