If you are traveling out of the country or can?t remember your last tetanus booster shot, you should probably talk to your doctor about vaccinations.
Every adult should be up to date on diptheria/tetanus, hepatitis A and B, and influenza vaccines, said Dr. Michael Zimring of Mercy Medical Center, director of the Center for Wilderness and Travel Medicine.
If you are traveling to developing countries, it is important to know what to be protected against, Zimring said. “Some clinics will give you every vaccination you ever could have. You really don?t need everything.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travelers? Health Web page, cdc.gov/travel, provides up to date information.
Even if you?re not traveling, reaching adulthood does not mean you shouldn?t get new vaccines.
Most vaccinations are given once or in a series of shots and protect you for life, Zimring said. Some require a second round in adulthood.
There is only one yearly vaccine needed ? a flu shot, said Dr. Janet O?Mahoney, also of Mercy Medical Center.
Her list includes tetanus/diphtheria every 10 years, pneumonia if your are 65 or have chronic illness, measles/mumps/rubella ? if you didn’t have them as a teenager hepatitis and meningitis for people living in dormitories.
O?Mahoney also said the human papillomavirus vaccine that has been in the news lately, which is recommended for women under 26.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
Even if you are visiting a modernized nation, it?s worth checking the latest travel warnings, said Dr. Michael Zimring of Baltimore, author of “Healthy Travel: Don?t Travel Without It!”
» Yellow fever, malaria and even diseases once thought eliminated, like polio, are turning up worldwide.
» Anyone who has had chicken pox as a child should take the adult-version vaccine for shingles after age 50.
» A measles outbreak in the United Kingdom is in decline now, but cases are turning up in Canada.
Should insurance companies pay for the papilomavirus vaccine? Repond in our comment section.
