What vaccinations do adults need?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You need to get a booster shot because tetanus, measles and hepatitis don't care about your date of birth.

Why do adults need childhood vaccinations?

Childhood illnesses are commonly referred to as measles, diphtheria, chickenpox, and most of the illnesses that are vaccinated against. In fact, they are not children at all - nothing changes with age.

It's just that all these diseases are easy to catch. Before mass vaccination began, people became infected as soon as they encountered pathogens. This happened at an early age, and then the sick either died or acquired an active immunity that protected them. So it seemed that only children were sick.

Now you do not need to risk your life for the sake of immunity - there are vaccinations. But if you haven't done them or have done them for too long, you are at risk.

Olga Vladimirovna Shirai Epidemiologist, Head of the Epidemiological Department, St. Petersburg State Budgetary Healthcare Institution "Elizavetinskaya Hospital"

Currently, no one will warn a person about the timing of immunization: you yourself need to find out the correct time and age of revaccination.

Many adults do not get boosted, but they still do not get sick due to immunity. Someone left it after an illness, someone after vaccination (even if everyone forgot about it), others are protected by herd immunity - epidemics simply have nowhere to roam if the majority are vaccinated. Revaccination is needed so as not to get sick and not provoke epidemics.

How do I know what vaccinations I have been given?

In theory, all vaccinations are recorded on a card or vaccination certificate, and cards with data wander with the person from the clinic to the clinic.

In practice, there is none of this. Even if you have been attached to one clinic all your life, your registration has not changed, all this data can easily be lost. For everyone else, this is a "I remember - I don't remember" quest. Chances are you don't remember.

If this is the case, then there is a reference point for those born in Russia - the national vaccination calendar. If it has the vaccine, you may have received it. Then you most likely need a revaccination, because not all vaccinations work for life. If the vaccination is not on the national calendar, then you need to do it anyway.

What tests will show that the vaccinations have been?

If a person has ever been vaccinated, he has antibodies to this disease. These are proteins that attack bacteria or viruses that have entered the body. They are referred to as IgG. - immunoglobulins type G.

Conduct a blood test for antibodies to viral hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis (in relation to three types of the virus), measles, rubella, mumps, whooping cough. For this, an RPHA reaction is performed with the appropriate diagnosticum (diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps) or ELISA (whooping cough, hepatitis, rubella).

Olga Shirai

For immunity to work, you need a certain titer - the amount of these same immunoglobulins. If the titer is small, you need to be vaccinated. The indicators for all vaccinations are different, this is discussed with the doctor separately.

But even if you are vaccinated against a disease to which you are already immune, nothing special will happen - the agents introduced with the vaccine will be destroyed.

What vaccines can be vaccinated?

The rule of thumb for vaccines is “the more modern, the better” because researchers are constantly working on improvements. New vaccines are well tolerated and often protect against several diseases at once.

Even if you were vaccinated in childhood with old vaccines, you can safely do revaccination with new ones - there will be no conflict.

We have listed the vaccines that are allowed to be used in Russia. To find out more about them, you need to read the instructions and study the contraindications. Some vaccines are not found in clinics, and some are simply difficult to find.

How to get vaccinated against hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a dangerous viral infection that is transmitted through blood and sexually. It affects the liver, there are no specific medications for it. The course of the disease can be difficult and with complications up to death. Hepatitis B kills nearly 700,000 people worldwide every year.

Vaccination is carried out for children and adults who have not been previously vaccinated against viral hepatitis B, according to the 0–1–6 scheme (the first dose is at the start of vaccination, the second dose is a month after the first vaccination, the third dose is 6 months after the start of vaccination).

The main thing is to get three vaccinations so that you no longer remember about it. If they began to vaccinate you, but the scheme was not completed, then the immunity will be unstable and no one will say for sure how long it will last.

Vaccines: "Euvax V", "Regevak B", "Engerix B".

How to get vaccinated against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus?

Children are given a vaccine that protects against three diseases at once. After 26 years, you need to undergo revaccination of at least two of them every 10 years.

• Diphtheria is a disease that affects the throat and bronchi to the point that a person cannot breathe. The course is difficult, with high fever and damage to internal organs. The causative agent of the infection - diphtheria bacillus - is toxic, so complications often appear. The disease is deadly.
• Tetanus affects the nervous system, you can get it at any time if the infection gets into the wound (for example, with a splinter). Due to tetanus, convulsions begin, and if the disease progresses poorly, a person dies, because the nerves responsible for breathing are turned off.
• Whooping cough affects the respiratory system and is characterized by a characteristic cough. The course is more severe, the younger the patient.

Adults according to the national calendar are vaccinated only against diphtheria and tetanus (ADS-m vaccine). The pertussis component is not included in the vaccine, since the disease is not as terrible for an adult as for a child. There is nothing good about whooping cough at any age, so we recommend buying vaccines with a pertussis component to protect yourself from everything at once.

If vaccination was not carried out in childhood, then three vaccinations must be given: the first two doses of the vaccine are injected with an interval of one month, the third - one year after the second dose. Then revaccination is also carried out once every 10 years.

Olga Shirai

Even if you were vaccinated at school, after the age of 26 you need a booster shot for at least diphtheria and tetanus.

The American Pediatric Association recommends that pregnant women get the whooping cough vaccine to pass the antibodies to the newborn.

Vaccines: against diphtheria and tetanus - "ADS-M"; against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough - "Adasel".

Dmitry Malykh is a pediatrician, neurologist, member of the Union of Pediatricians of Russia.

Adacel is the only pertussis vaccine in Europe licensed for vaccination in adults. The drug "ADS-M" is included in the state insurance and is available free of charge under the compulsory medical insurance policy. "Adasel" is paid for by a number of voluntary medical insurance programs, and it can also be obtained for cash or non-cash payments in private clinics in the country. Both drugs are available on the market.

How to vaccinate against measles, rubella, mumps?

Children are also vaccinated against these diseases at the same time.

• Measles is a highly contagious disease that is dangerous with complications such as encephalitis or pneumonia.
• Rubella is especially dangerous for pregnant women because it affects the fetus.
• Mumps, aka mumps, is dangerous, because the disease often ends in complications: the glands, kidneys, and the brain are affected.

The vaccination, if it was once upon a time, must be repeated at the age of 22-29 years (depending on the timing of the last revaccination), and then every 10 years.

In the medical literature, you can find evidence that immunity after vaccination against measles and mumps persists for 20-30 years. Therefore, there is no need to inject a three-component vaccine every 10 years, but you can only get vaccinated against rubella, post-vaccination protection against which has existed for only 10 years. However, this is a moot point. 10 years after vaccination, protection against measles and mumps may also weaken, so it is recommended to use a vaccine containing all three viruses for revaccination.

Olga Shirai

Adults who have not had these infections in childhood and have not been vaccinated receive two doses of the vaccine with an interval between injections a month to form immunity, then revaccination is also carried out once every 10 years.

Vaccines: M-M-P II, measles-mumps culture live vaccine, rubella vaccine live culture.

How to get vaccinated against chickenpox?

The chickenpox vaccine was recently added to the national calendar and is optional. For an adult, it can be done at any age, if in childhood he did not have chickenpox or was not vaccinated.

Studies have shown that immunity after vaccination lasts longer than 30 years, so revaccination programs are not provided (chickenpox vaccination is done once in a lifetime).

Contrary to popular belief, chickenpox is not better for getting sick. First, adults suffer the disease more heavily than children. Second, the virus that causes chickenpox stays in the body forever and may reappear as shingles.

Women who have not had chickenpox and are planning a pregnancy should also be vaccinated against this disease, since infection during pregnancy (especially in the early stages) can lead to the development of fetal malformations and even miscarriage.

Olga Shirai

Vaccination against chickenpox can be done to prevent the disease, if there was contact with a sick person. WHO considers this measure to be effective if vaccination is carried out no later than 72 hours after contact of a healthy person with a sick person.

Vaccine: "Varilrix".

How to get vaccinated against polio?

Poliomyelitis viruses are terrible with complications: one in 200 people who get sick gets complications in the form of paralysis. You need to be vaccinated if there is no immunity and you are going to a country where the disease is common.

The vaccination is done in three stages. It is better to use an inactivated vaccine - the one in the injections, it is much safer than drops in the mouth.

Vaccines: Imovax Polio, Poliorix, Tetraxim.

How to get vaccinated against hemophilic infection?

Hemophilic infection causes severe forms of meningitis, pneumonia, and sometimes leads to sepsis. The infection does not respond well to antibiotics.

Among children, only those at risk for health reasons are vaccinated. This also applies to adults: the elderly, people in contact with sick people, people with chronic diseases are vaccinated.

Vaccines: "Akt-HIB", "Hiberiks".

How to get vaccinated against papillomavirus?

Some types of human papillomavirus (HPV) pose a threat to women's health, causing cervical cancer, genital warts, and several other diseases.

Vaccination is recommended for girls and women aged 9 to 26 years, preferably before the onset of sexual activity (because with its onset, the risk of contracting from a partner sharply increases). The vaccination can be done at a later age up to 45 years.

Olga Shirai

Men can also be vaccinated with this vaccine, so as not to tease the virus that causes cancer (not only of the cervix, but also of other organs), and not to suffer from warts. Vaccination is done in three stages according to the instructions.

Vaccines: Gardasil, Cervarix.

Now there is another drug against the human papillomavirus. The trade name is Gardasil 9. Unlike Gardasil, which protects against four human papillomavirus serotypes, Gardasil 9 protects against nine HPV serotypes. The vaccine is available in the United States and several European countries.

Dmitry Malykh

How to get vaccinated against pneumococcus?

For adults, vaccinations are optional. Pneumococcal infection, as a rule, joins other diseases and is a complication. It causes meningitis, otitis media, sinusitis, pneumonia.

Vaccination is recommended for people who are at increased risk of infection, as well as those who have diseases caused by pneumococcus, are most severe and cause complications:

• adults over 65;
• people who often come into contact with possible carriers of the infection;
• employees of preschool, school institutions, boarding schools;
• those who have chronic diseases of the respiratory system, liver, diabetes mellitus;
• people suffering from immunodeficiency;
• patients who have an increased risk of meningitis (after traumatic brain injury, neurosurgical interventions on the spine).

Vaccines: "Pneumo-23", "Prevenar 13".

How to get vaccinated against meningococcus?

Meningococcus causes meningitis, but it is special. It is always a fast-moving infection, potentially deadly. Every case of illness is an emergency.

In Russia, vaccination is carried out if there is an outbreak of the disease, as well as among those who are subject to conscription and those who travel to Africa and Asia.

In Russia, vaccination against meningococcal infection of four serotypes is currently available: A, C, Y, W-135. A vaccine against meningococcus type B is also available in most European and North American countries. The brand name of the drug is Bexero. I recommend purchasing this drug when traveling abroad (after stabilizing the situation with the coronavirus pandemic).

Dmitry Malykh

Modern vaccines protect against several subtypes of the disease at once. One adult vaccination is enough.

Vaccines: Menaktra, Mentsevax ACWY.

What other vaccinations are worth getting?

In addition to those listed, there are also vaccinations for epidemic indications. They are done in the event that an epidemic has begun somewhere or if a person at work often encounters rare diseases. This is the business of specialists, but there are several vaccinations that should be done without waiting for epidemics.

• Tick-borne encephalitis … We have already written to whom, how and when to get vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis (start dealing with the issue in February in order to have time to take a full course and develop immunity before the ticks wake up).
• Flu. We have already written in detail about the flu vaccine. Read everything you want to know. Vaccination is the best protection against influenza. It is worth vaccinating before mid-October to meet the epidemic fully armed.
• Vaccinations for travelers. If you are going to a country with frequent outbreaks of infections, you need to get vaccinated before traveling. Usually it is hepatitis A (you can get vaccinated from it and just for prevention), yellow fever. It all depends on the country you decide to go to.

What to do right now?

To be guaranteed not to get sick:

1. Go to your local polyclinic and ask your physician what vaccines are on your card.
2. Get tested for antibodies to those diseases for which it is required.
3. Check if the clinic has vaccines and their names.
4. Find a private health center that is licensed to provide vaccinations.
5. Find out which pharmacies sell vaccines.
6. Schedule vaccinations with your doctor. Several vaccines can be administered at the same time, it is not at all necessary to take breaks between different drugs. It all depends on the instructions for each specific vaccine.
7. Get vaccinated on this schedule.
8. Do not be ill.