As an adult, you’ve benefited from the vaccinations you received as a child, which have protected you against 14 serious illnesses, such as polio and whooping cough. While these early efforts have provided you with a great layer of protection, there are still some vaccines that you should tend to as an adult. These simple immunizations provide you with continued peace of mind, and great health, long into the future.
At Ross Bridge Medical Center, our team of healthcare providers is invested in your ongoing health, which is why we offer vaccinations for adults living in and around Hoover, Alabama. From yearly flu protection to tetanus boosters, we ensure that you’re armed to defend against ongoing and serious illnesses.
The bottom line is that vaccines aren’t just for kids — they’re important for adults, too.
Getting through winter
If you want to reduce your chances of spending a week or two laid up miserably on your couch, an annual flu shot is your best bet. The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of six months receives an annual flu shot in order to get through the flu season with your health intact.
And there’s more effort than you might imagine that goes into the flu vaccines each year. In fact, it’s a global effort as health centers around the world gather critical data to predict which strain will present itself from one year to the next. By compiling data and tracking trends, international centers, like the CDC, are able to come up with a vaccine each year that reduces your risk of getting the flu by 40-60%. And those odds are clearly in your favor.
While everyone should be vaccinated against the flu, it’s especially important for pregnant women, people over the age of 65, and anyone with a chronic condition.
Give it a boost
As a child, you were given vaccines against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). While the vaccinations protected you during your early years, they do need to be updated every 10 years or so. And if you’re pregnant, you can benefit from a preventive booster, no matter how much time has elapsed since your last one.
Catching up
If you weren’t born in the United States, or your parents opted not to vaccinate you as a child, we can make up for lost time and catch you up on the necessary vaccinations.
Shingles protection
Approximately one out of every three people will contract shingles, which can be a painful condition to deal with. To avoid this illness, we recommend two doses of the shingles vaccination when you reach 50, which are spread apart by six months. If you’re already 60 or older, we reduce this to just one vaccination.
Traveling overseas
If you travel overseas, especially to third world countries, please contact us to find out whether you need a vaccination. The most common vaccines for travelers protect them against:
- Anthrax
- Hepatitis A and/or B
- Polio
- Rabies
- Typhoid
- Yellow fever
- Japanese encephalitis
Once we know which countries you’re visiting, we supply you with the necessary vaccinations. We can also set you up with medications that will help with malaria, dengue fever, and traveler’s diarrhea.
There are other vaccinations that adults should be aware of, such as the HPV vaccine, which you should receive before the age of 26. As well, under certain circumstances, we may recommend vaccines for illnesses like pneumonia, if you fall into a higher-risk group.
To find out more about which vaccines can benefit you as an adult, please give us a call or use the online scheduling tool to set up an appointment.