Adults should be vaccinated too

[Marnica]

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/200...3/hlsd0414.htm

Adult patients need to know that vaccines are something you don't outgrow, and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases is mounting a campaign to help physicians carry this message forward.

Adults don't understand the risks they face and how safe vaccinations are," said William Schaffner, MD, president-elect of NFID and chair of the Dept. of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Tennessee. "It's difficult to conceptualize the value of prevention."

That must be why I am not up to date on all my immunizations!! I just don't understand how important they are and how SAFE they are!!!

[MissRubyandKen]

If adults 'don't understand how safe vaccines are' then why the h e double hockey sticks are almost all of them letting their babies be injected with them?

[MissRubyandKen]

Oh yeah and I think we all know it's just a matter of time before they are aggressively pushing more and more vaccines for adults too. They're so perfect and do so much good, so why not?

[LindsayK]

Being contrary

I used to agree with you all but... I think you guys have it all wrong...

You know, in thinking about this, maybe I'd LIKE to see a huge push toward bringing all American adults "up to date" on their vaccinations. Maybe if everytime an adult showed up to their doctor's office and told that they need:

-a Dtap booster (only lasts 10 years)
-another MMR (because probably your titers are low, and its more cost effective to just jab you)
-a Hep A vax (in case you eat at a sketchy restaurant)
-a Hep B shot (in case your partner cheats on you)
-a varicella vaccine (yes, we know you had the pox as a kid, but you don't want to infect grandma at the nursing home, do you?)
-a flu shot (cause you don't want to get the FLU do you?)

then maybe, just MAYBE, people would start questioning the rationale of the vaccine schedule. MAYBE instead of insisting that infants and small children be "up to date" for the sake of "herd immunity" they'd wake up and realize that there is no such thing as herd immunity when 95% of adult americans (CDC stat) are not up to date on their immunizations. MAYBE if hordes of adults, who can elocute their symptoms, start having vax reactions and not showing up to work for days or weeks at a time, people would acknowledge that vaccine reactions exist, and they aren't extremely rare (not that I would wish a vax reaction on anyone, truly) MAYBE if adults are told THEY have to have 10 different pathogens injected into their body in one day, they might actually think twice about how "safe" they are told vaccines are.

Hmm. I think I'll go put up some posters. I think I'm liking the idea of making all adults up to date on their vaccinations....

[idler]

You may be onto something. Being coerced into getting two MMR boosters within three years (starting school and couldn't get records transferred in time--also did not know about exemptions) and being forced to sign the standard waiver, which I guess most people don't actually read, are the things that initially made me question whether my daughter should be vaccinated.

Originally Posted by LindsayK

I used to agree with you all but... I think you guys have it all wrong...

You know, in thinking about this, maybe I'd LIKE to see a huge push toward bringing all American adults "up to date" on their vaccinations. Maybe if everytime an adult showed up to their doctor's office and told that they need:

-a Dtap booster (only lasts 10 years)
-another MMR (because probably your titers are low, and its more cost effective to just jab you)
-a Hep A vax (in case you eat at a sketchy restaurant)
-a Hep B shot (in case your partner cheats on you)
-a varicella vaccine (yes, we know you had the pox as a kid, but you don't want to infect grandma at the nursing home, do you?)
-a flu shot (cause you don't want to get the FLU do you?)

then maybe, just MAYBE, people would start questioning the rationale of the vaccine schedule. MAYBE instead of insisting that infants and small children be "up to date" for the sake of "herd immunity" they'd wake up and realize that there is no such thing as herd immunity when 95% of adult americans (CDC stat) are not up to date on their immunizations. MAYBE if hordes of adults, who can elocute their symptoms, start having vax reactions and not showing up to work for days or weeks at a time, people would acknowledge that vaccine reactions exist, and they aren't extremely rare (not that I would wish a vax reaction on anyone, truly) MAYBE if adults are told THEY have to have 10 different pathogens injected into their body in one day, they might actually think twice about how "safe" they are told vaccines are.

Hmm. I think I'll go put up some posters. I think I'm liking the idea of making all adults up to date on their vaccinations....

[tanyalynn]

It depends on whether you take an optimistic view of the situation or a pessimistic one, eh?

The optimistic says that people will actually think about what's going on, think of all the other adults not up-to-date, connect their flu-like symptoms (or the beginnings of nerve pain or whatever) to their doctor visit (the doc said they were fine), and see this as a need for change.

The pessimistic view is that people are so accustomed to doing what their doctor recommends, especially regarding vaccinations (it really does seem like a different amount of thought is given for this than, say, a daily oral med) that the pressure will just increase to keep kids up-to-date and more and more will be heaped on the childhood schedule.

I can't tell where I stand right now.

And I think it's hilarious that, in the article, they'd mention how hard it is to "conceptualize the value of prevention," when I think that I am working far harder on preventing serious illness in myself and my kids than most doctors would ever conceptualize. And that's why we don't need vaccines.