Adult Vaccination
By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: April 7, 2011
You've heard that you really should get a flu shot every year. It's the latest recommendation from the Center for Disease Control.
Adds Dr. Henry Petry with Freeman Health System, "And that's pretty well with everybody - flu shots are pretty universal."
He says it's important to check and see if you need additional shots, regardless of your age. Tetanus is another example. "But do you need to get a tetanus shot every so many years and the answer is - yes, every years you would need an immunization for tetanus and we do the DT which is diphtheria and tetanus together."
HPV immunization is important for women through about age 26. And another you may not think of - pertussis or whooping cough. Dr. Petry said, "In this day and age we do because there are incidents in certain groups of people that have never had the vaccination that we're seeing acute pertussis outbreaks."
Also, Dr. Petry says older patients should consider getting the chicken pox vaccine and a shot to protect from shingles. "This vaccination is primarily for people over the age of 60 or above."
