WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2020

KetoneKaren wrote: »

Vaccinations Soap Box

Just putting this out there for information. Vaccinations recommended for seniors 65 & over and the rationale for each:

Flu High-Dose Vaccine: Annually. It contained four times as much flu virus antigen as the "regular" flu vaccine. It prevents flu or ameliorates the severity & helps protect others by way of the "herd effect". If 80% of the population is vaccinated, the other 20% are mostly protected.

Tetanus Vaccine: Every 10 years on general principles; within 5 years if you get cut or step on a nail. Since tetanus (lockjaw) has a very high mortality rate even when treated, this one is a no-brainer. Most seniors can just get the Td, but if you have regular child-care duties, get the Tdap at least once. The "p" stands for Pertussis, or Whooping Cough, and senior citizens are a significant vector in its spread.

Pneumonia Vaccines: Prevnar 13 (the "new" pneumonia shot) and Pneumovax (the "old" pneumonia shot). Once-in-a-lifetime shots for most people. It's often recommended that you get Prevnar 13 first & maybe a year later get the Pneumovax. Prevents Pneumococcal (or Lobar) Pneumonia, a killer in debilitated or predisposed senior citizens. It does not prevent pneumonia caused by anything other than Streptococcus pneumoniae. In other words, it doesn't prevent ordinary community-acquired pneumonia.

Shingles Vaccine Series: The new 2-part series for shingles (Herpes zoster) is recommended as a once-in-a-lifetime vaccine to prevent or ameliorate shingles, and especially post-herpetic neuralgia which can cause a lifetime of pain. It can be given to people who have had shingles, or have had the "old" shingles shot. It can be given regardless of whether a person has had chickenpox. Since it is a live vaccine, if a person is taking immunosuppressant drugs for conditions like Rheumatoid Arthritis or Crohn's, they should talk to their specialists first.

If you travel you may want to get additional immunizations/boosters for diseases like hepatitis A; hepatitis B; measles, mumps, and rubella; meningococcal disease; and varicella (chickenpox), as well as others specific to the region you visit. Immunity wanes as we age, and we may think we are immune to something because we had the childhood disease or have been previously immunized. That isn't always the case. I have had rubella boosters twice as an adult (required because I am in a medical field) because my immunity wanes rather quickly for that particular disease.

Adults have to make up their own minds about whether they want to be immunized or not. If you choose not to get immunizations as an adult, you do have some added responsibility to be very vigilant for the signs & symptoms of communicable disease so you can quarantine yourself if you think you have one. Also, even if you are only a little bit under the weather, avoid contact with immunocompromised individuals and very young babies who have not already had all of their immunizations, because you may be in the prodrome stage of a more serious communicable disease & be contagious without realizing it. Whooping Cough is not as severe in adults as it is in children and may go unrecognized. Influenza is highly communicable & kills people every year; the very old & the very young are the most vulnerable. And although Tetanus (Lockjaw) is not communicable, it is deadly, & diagnosis may be delayed because the doctor might not think of it right away since it is uncommon these days due to a large portion of the population being immunized.

Karen in Virginia