Most adults have the idea that vaccines are just for kids. Wrong! There are a number of vaccines that adults need, and some new ones that are now available, such as the Shingles (Herpes Zoster) vaccine. Listed below is a great pdf file outlining the vaccine schedule you all need to follow. Download it and show it to your family physician, internist, or gynecologist (if that's who provides your well women care). Download 2009 Vaccine Schedule now.
For those with liver disease, vaccination for hepatitis A and hepatitis B are required. The last thing someone with any sort of liver condition needs is an acute bout of hepatitis A or B. It could be deadly. The vaccines are safe and effective.
The article is listed below for on-line reading.
Every year, more than 40,000 adults in the United States die from influenza, and additional deaths can be directly linked to pneumococcal infections, hepatitis B infection, and other preventable diseases. Diseases that can be prevented by vaccination have been estimated to cost society more than $10 billion annually. Calculating the benefits of vaccines beyond the prevention of suffering or direct loss of life has been difficult. According to Rappuoli and colleagues, however, economists have suggested that vaccines are cost-effective because the expense of producing and administering them is lower than the cumulative costs of people being ill and out of work. For instance, for every $1 spent on the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, $16.34 is saved in direct medical costs.Rappuoli goes on to say that if policy makers were to include the appropriate factors for avoiding disease altogether, the value currently attributed to vaccines would be seen to be underestimated by a factor between 10 and 100. Healthy People 2020 features vaccinations prominently in a comprehensive, nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda outlined by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Screening and encouraging adult patients to be up-to-date on their vaccinations will help decrease health-related mortality, societal costs, and overall disease incidence. Read more
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