Reuters reports (“Too few…“) on the problem that U.S. adults not receiving necessary vaccines.
“Only 2 percent of U.S. adults last year got a shot that can protect them from painful bouts of shingles, health officials said on Wednesday in a study that shows what they call unacceptably low rates of adult vaccination against a range of diseases.
Adults also failed to get vaccines that can protect them against tetanus, whooping cough and even influenza — despite years of campaigning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] found.”
There are a variety of vaccines and different vaccines only apply to certain demographic groups based on their age, sex and risk factors. Some risk factors are obvious (e.g.: being HIV positive, having sex with prostitutes) but others are more mundate (e.g.: working in the healthcare or public safety sectors, being a first-year college student, traveling abroad).
Here at the Healthcare Economist, I don’t just point out potential problems, I offer solutions:
If you do not know which vaccines you need to get, go to the CDC Immunization website and TAKE THIS QUIZ. Childhood immunization schedules are also available.
this is an expensive vaccine ($125) that has only 50% effectiveness. That means that if your lifetime risk of getting shingles is 3%, spending $125 gets you down to 1.5 %. Worth the $ only for the rich. It is unknown what the duration of even that limited protection is.