It’s easy to overlook the importance of preventive health care in the midst of the hustle and bustle of daily life. However, postponing regular appointments can leave you susceptible to illness and disease, especially when it comes to keeping up to date on your vaccinations.
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Vaccines are a powerful form of medicine that help build up your immunity against certain illnesses, like measles. Some types of vaccines only require one shot, but others need regular boosters to remain potent.
At Scottsdale Private Physicians, LLC, our team provides the highest quality medical care possible with an emphasis on disease prevention and management. Part of this personalized approach involves ensuring that people have the right vaccines and boosters at every age. If you’re an adult, here are a few you shouldn’t overlook.
Most people have had a tetanus shot at some point in their life. However, once isn’t enough. It requires an additional booster shot every 10 years to maintain protection against a dangerous form of bacterial infection that usually enters the body through broken skin, like cutting yourself on an infected object.
In most cases, you get a tetanus shot along with a combination of other vaccines in a Tdap shot. In this form, you gain protection from tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough (pertussis).
You should have regular tetanus shots or Tdap vaccines over your entire lifetime. If you can’t remember when you had your last one, we can provide personalized recommendations moving forward.
Are you 26 or younger? If you haven’t received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, we can discuss whether it’s right for you based on your age and exposure risks.
The HPV vaccine helps protect people from the virus that causes genital warts and certain cancers, including cervical and anal cancer. You can safely receive this vaccine as early as age 9, but we usually don’t recommend it for those over 27.
One of the easiest vaccines to remember involves influenza, and anyone age 6 months or older should get this shot each year.
While everyone should get an annual flu shot, it’s crucial for people with chronic health conditions, like chronic lung disease, diabetes, and heart disease. You also shouldn’t delay getting this vaccine if you’re over age 65 or pregnant.
The flu vaccine not only reduces your risk of getting the flu, but it prevents millions of flu-related doctor’s visits each year. In fact, during the 2019-2020 flu season, this vaccine prevented approximately 7.5 million cases of the flu, 3.7 million flu-related medical appointments, and 105,000 hospitalizations — as well as 6,300 flu-related deaths.
As the name implies, this vaccine protects against pneumonia, a disease that can cause serious illness and death in certain individuals.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines recommend that adults 65 or older receive a pneumonia vaccine — or pneumococcal vaccine. Like the flu vaccine, it doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get pneumonia. However, it helps protect against severe infection and life-threatening complications.
Do you remember having chickenpox? Whether you had mild or severe symptoms, the virus that caused your illness stays in your body forever. That means you could also get shingles at some point, a condition that impacts nearly 1 in 3 Americans during their lifetime.
Shingles can develop anywhere on your body, often as a painful strip of blisters wrapping around one side of your torso. While this isn’t a life-threatening problem, it can be tremendously painful and even cause long-term complications, like postherpetic neuralgia.
Getting the shingles shot provides more than 90% protection against the shingles virus. Because of the widespread nature of shingles, we recommend this vaccine for healthy adults age 50 and older.
Are you getting ready to leave the country? Whether you have an upcoming vacation, work trip, or plans to move, we can help you determine if you need any vaccinations first. We recommend scheduling this consultation at least 4-6 weeks before you depart, which ensures you have time to build up your immunity after receiving your vaccinations.
Our team understands that receiving vaccinations is a personal choice. However, they can help protect your health and the health of those around you. If you have questions about the vaccines or boosters recommended for adults, schedule an appointment at one of our offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, to discuss your options and any concerns you may have about them.
