To remain healthy, you need healthy habits.  That is the foundation of health.  There are other things you can do to help yourself remain healthy in addition to habits.  Vaccination against certain diseases can be very helpful in preventing them.  Not all vaccines recommended right now are proven effective by long term use. One I especially am concerned about is HPV which is costly, and which might not do what is advertised and that is prevent cervical cancer.

It might surprise you to know that there are 50,000 deaths per year that are considered to have been preventable by vaccines.  If that statistic holds up to close scrutiny that would mean more deaths from this cause than from Breast Cancer, AIDS or Traffic accidents.  I don’t know about Mortality but Morbidity - preventable serious illness - would be greatly reduced.

What vaccines do you need and how can you find out?  Go to the CDC vaccine information site to get more information than you probably need. To help you I have uploaded two PDFs at the end of this article. One is a blank immunization form and the other is a schedule of recommended adult immunizations.

What diseases are preventable by immunization?  The list of entirely preventable diseases are Tetanus, Polio, Diptheria, Pertusis (Whooping Cough), Mumps and both types of Measles (Rubella and Rubeola).  The Hepatitis Vaccines for type A and B are very effective in most individuals. Influenza vaccines, especially if you have received it more than twice, give year to year immunity but an annual booster is needed to maximize the immune response effectiveness. This is true if the person is young (under 18) or older (over 65). This is also true of many vaccines that have to be “boosted” to retain levels of immunity.  Tetanus and Diptheria need to be administered every 10 years.  After a childhood series of 4 immunizations, Pertusis or Whooping Cough Vaccine needs to be administered once during your adult life. Consult the vaccine schedule here that is attached as a PDF and the CDC site if you found this post over 2 years after it was written.

Questionably effective vaccines are those for Varicella, Zoster and HPV.  Of the previous 3, Zoster gives the most protection for the cost.  It is one I will likely take myself when I leave medicine and quit bieing regularly exposed to patients with Zoster.  You can ‘t catch Zoster but Zoster does cause Varicella (Chicken Pox) in susceptible individuals and regular exposure does remind your immune system about Varicella virus. When I no longer have this advantage, I will take the vaccine.

In a healthy child, Varicella is not particularly harmful.  The problem is from secondary infection due to scratching.  With the appearance of MRSA, a resistant type of  Staph germ, all those open sores on the skin of a child with varicella represent a problem.  For this reason, the vaccine may be beneficial for healthy children as well as the child from circumstances that create greater susceptability to complications because of lack of care, ignorance and poor nutrition.

HPV has not proved itself yet.  If it does not provide life long immunity with the series of 3 immunizations, it will not be a cost effective public health measure it is touted to be.   The length of immunity  is as yet unproven.  If the vaccine was less expensive and if it ws being used to immunize people of the age group on whom it was tested (women age 16-25), I would be less hesitant.  I have to believe that calling it an anti-cancer vaccine instead of a wart vaccine makes it seem life saving.  In reality, cervical cancer is probably better prevented by regular pap smears.  Men almost never get any cancer from HPV.  I think it needs more research before it is legislated.

If you travel extensively, then you need special vacines, depending on where you go.  Get a travel consult and see the Travelers section of the CDC Immunization site linked above for more information.

The two PDF files are included below.

adult-immunization-schedule

blank-vaccine-record

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