Your kids may be up on their vaccines, but what about you?
Dr. Ted Louie, an infectious disease expert with the Medical Society of New Jersey, affiliated with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Saint Peter’s University Hospital and Highland Park Medical.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just released new recommendations designed for adults.
So who should get which vaccine?
Louie stresses all adults should be immunized against influenza.
“The flu vaccine is actually recommended for everyone. However, there are high risk groups that are at higher risk of getting complications, including pregnant women, those over the age of 65, or adults with other conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions,” he said.
Louie said other vaccines may or may not be right for you.
He pointed out, however, most adults do need a tetanus vaccine.
He noted this vaccine is important because there is an increasing number of pertussis cases, or whooping cough, in the United States.
He pointed out another important vaccine that adults should consider is the pneumonia vaccine, because pneumonia can be a very serious problem for anyone with a lung disease or a compromised immune system.
Louie said in some cases a doctor may want to do a blood test, but in other cases they’re able to figure out a course of action from talking with the patient.