Vaccines play an important role in protecting your health, and the health of your family
and community.
They are one of our best defenses against many serious infectious diseases, and have
saved millions of lives.
When a pathogen--a disease-causing bacteria or virus--enters your body, your immune system
recognizes the intruder and jumps into action.
One of the ways your immune system protects you, is by producing antibodies that help
destroy and remove the intruder.
Each time the immune system is exposed to a pathogen, it builds up defenses.
So the next time the immune system encounters the same pathogen, it has developed immunity
and can remove it more quickly, preventing illness.
This immunity develops each time we get sick from a bacteria or virus.
But you don't have to get sick from an infectious disease to develop immunity--you can get vaccinated.
Vaccines develop immunity by imitating an infection.
Each vaccine triggers the immune system to produce specific antibodies needed to protect
you from these illnesses in the future.
You may think of vaccination as something only children need, but ALL adults also need
to be vaccinated to protect their health, and the health of their loved ones against
potentially serious infections.
Here's why you still need vaccinations no matter how old you are.
Some vaccines you got when you were younger can wear off so you may need a booster.
Also, if there are vaccines you never got as a child, it may be recommended that you
get them as an adult.
It's important to get the flu vaccine every single year, as it's updated annually to best
defend against the constantly changing virus, and your immunity decreases over the year.
Your job, lifestyle, health status, or travel may require additional vaccinations.
As we age, our immune systems weaken and put as at a higher risk for certain diseases like
shingles or pneumonia, and their complications.
So after age 60 there are additional vaccines that are recommended.
Certain diseases and conditions can make it harder to fight off infection.
And with some chronic diseases the complications of infection can be more severe.
For example, getting the flu if you have heart disease, increases the stress on your heart,
and therefore your risk of heart attack.
If you have diabetes, flu infection can raise your blood glucose to dangerous levels.
And if you have impaired lung function, the infection can lead to pneumonia and other
serious respiratory illnesses.
Once you get vaccinated you are less likely to get sick, which means you are also less
likely to get others sick.The more people who are vaccinated, the fewer opportunities
a disease has to spread.
This means getting your recommended vaccines not only protects you, it protects the people
around you too--such as infants who are too young to be vaccinated, or people with weakened
immune systems who are at higher risk of severe illness.
Vaccines are safe, and rigorously tested before approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also monitor vaccine safety
and effectiveness once they're in use.
Most side effects from vaccines are mild and go away on their own.
Severe side effects are rare.
Since vaccines work by imitating natural infections, they contain either a killed or weakened virus
or bacteria, or pieces of these pathogens.
They may also contain preservatives that keep the vaccine safe while being stored.
And some certain substances called adjuvants, that improve the vaccine's effectiveness.
Some people may be allergic to one, or more, of the ingredients in vaccines.
And women who are pregnant, people who have weakened immune systems, or have certain diseases
or conditions, may be advised against getting live vaccines such as those for measles, mumps,
and rubella, chicken pox, and shingles.
Talk to your healthcare professional and visit the CDCs website at www.cdc.gov/vaccines to
get detailed information on what vaccines are recommended for you.
You can get vaccinated at your healthcare professional's office, neighborhood pharmacy,
health departments, community health clinics, and even at some workplaces.
Most health insurance plans cover the cost of routinely recommended vaccines, although
you should confirm this before getting vaccinated.
Every year, thousands of people in the US are hospitalized or die from vaccine-preventable
diseases.
Millions more are unable to go to work, care for their families, and take care of their
other responsibilities while they recover from illnesses that could have been prevented
or made less severe with vaccination.
Take control of your health by making sure you are up-to-date on all the vaccines recommended
for you.