Cinergy Health Vaccination Recommendations
Yearly vaccinations aren’t just for kids any more. You probably heard a lot about a seasonal or H1N1 flu shot last fall, but you should know that a battery of other adult vaccinations might also become part of your health care routine. Pneumonia and shingles vaccines are preventive-care essentials for older adults, and meningitis and tetanus shots are now college rites of passage. Even the vaccines of childhood—measles, mumps and rubella, and whooping cough—are recommended for adults who missed out in their younger years.
Adult vaccinations should be part of all preventive care, but they are especially critical for people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, since flu and other illnesses can make routine medications less effective, throw off health goals such as stable blood sugar, and reduce a person’s ability to care for herself. For America’s growing population of older adults, vaccinations may head off potentially deadly disease complications—a bout of influenza leading to a trip to the hospital for pneumonia, for example.
Vaccinations can also be a good way to establish your medical home with a primary care provider, as a non-critical visit where you can discuss other preventive health goals and maybe ask questions about minor symptoms in a less urgent setting. But for adults without a regular doctor, immunizations are one of the few preventive care tools widely available through public clinics, drugstores and community vaccination drives.
Continue reading the article. (The Medical News - May 19th, 2010)
