Getting your shots isn’t just for kids

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Most parents get their children vaccinations, but vaccinations aren’t just for kids.

While nearly everyone is aware of influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations and most routinely get them, some vaccinations are especially important for people ages 50 and older.

That population is particularly vulnerable to diseases that can be prevented by vaccination.

Centers for Disease Control recommends respiratory syncytial virus vaccination for people older than 50.

RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms in most people, but is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the U.S. Vaccination is especially recommended for people older than 50.

Each year, an estimated 100,000 to 160,000 adults ages 60 and older in the U.S. are hospitalized because of RSV. Adults at high risk for severe RSV are ages 75 and older, people with chronic heart or lung disease, people with weakened immune systems, those with certain underlying medical conditions such as diabetes or obesity, and those living in nursing homes.

CDC also recommends Tdap or TD vaccines or booster shots every 10 years through adulthood. The vaccine prevents tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, sometimes known as whooping cough.

Adults 50 and older are recommended to get shingles vaccinations. Shingles, caused by reactivation of the same virus that causes chickenpox, causes a painful rash of blisters that wraps around the torso. Its most common complication is post-herpetic neuralgia, which causes shingles pain to last long after the blisters have cleared.

Pneumococcal vaccination is recommended for children younger than 5 and all adults with compromised immune systems. The vaccination is especially recommended for adults 50 and older.

Pneumococcal bacteria can cause many kinds of infections, including pneumonia, meningitis, bloodstream infections, middle-ear infection, and sinus infection. Serious complications of pneumococcal infections could result in death.

Vaccinations are available at the health department by appointment or a physician’s office.