Vaccines are not only for children. Immunity weakens with age, and diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease or cancer weaken it further, as do medicines such as steroids, immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Work, travel or living in a care home also expose adults to new germs, so adults need some vaccines too, Dr Shahnur Sharmin writes in Prothom Alo.
Flu: influenza circulates all year in Bangladesh's climate and can lead to deadly pneumonia. Because the virus changes, the vaccine is taken once a year. People aged 65 or over, pregnant women, people with long-term illness, those on immunity-lowering drugs and those at risk through their work should have it every year. Vaccinated people can still catch flu, but it is milder and less likely to cause complications.
Pneumonia: this vaccine works against Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can cause pneumonia and meningitis. It is not given every year; depending on the vaccine and the doctor's advice, one dose or one dose every five years is needed. Everyone over 65, and younger people with long-term illness or weak immunity, should have it.
Hepatitis B and A: hepatitis B can cause long-term infection leading to cirrhosis or liver cancer. Its vaccine is given in three doses, the second a month after the first and the third six months after, and after three doses 95 to 100 percent of people make protective antibodies. The hepatitis A vaccine takes two doses and works in about 95 percent of cases.
HPV and tetanus: the HPV vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, is given to girls aged 10 to 14 in two doses; after 15 it is usually three doses, and it can be taken up to 45 on a doctor's advice. After childhood tetanus shots under the EPI, a booster may be needed every 10 years, and the Tdap vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough also needs a booster every 10 years. Vaccines against shingles and typhoid are available too.
Side effects are usually limited to mild fever, aches, tiredness or swelling and pain at the injection site. Vaccines protect not only the person who takes them but the people around them, the writer says, urging readers to set doubts aside and take the vaccines they need.
Photo: Bill Branson / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Prothom Alo
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