Parents PACK Newsletter

October 2007

Parents Pack Newsletter

Possessing, Accessing and Communicating Knowledge About Vaccines

In this issue:

• Feature Article: Flu Vaccine and Other Immunizations for Adults
• Spotlight: Families Encounter Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
• Did You Know?. . .Facts about Adult Immunizations
• Ask the VEC - Shingles

Feature Article: Flu Vaccine and Other Immunizations for Adults

Each fall, people are encouraged to get a flu vaccine. But there are certain groups of people for whom the vaccine is especially important. These groups include people with asthma; people with chronic diseases of the lungs, heart or kidneys; people more than 50 years old; healthcare workers and children between 6 months and 5 years. Family members of people in these groups should also get a flu vaccine as they could inadvertently transmit the flu to their high-risk relatives.

Since vaccines are not something that adults tend to think about, influenza vaccine season is a good time to be sure you are up-to-date on your other vaccines. Adults are recommended to have the following vaccines:

•  Tdap or Td: This vaccine, commonly referred to as the tetanus booster, actually contains vaccines to protect against tetanus and diphtheria, and in the case of Tdap, there is also a pertussis vaccine included. Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, causes a respiratory infection that often leads to a severe and long-lasting cough. Public health officials in the U.S. have seen a steady increase in the number of cases of pertussis since the early 1980s. In both 2004 and 2005, about 26,000 cases of pertussis were reported. Many of these cases occurred in teenagers and adults for whom protection from their childhood vaccines has decreased. Many people may not realize that they have pertussis. It is estimated that 20-30 of every 100 coughing illnesses in which the cough lasts for longer than 2 weeks are caused by pertussis. Pertussis is commonly transmitted from adults to children who are too young to have been immunized (see Spotlight section below). Booster doses of this vaccine are recommended every 10 years, but people often only get this vaccine when they get a puncture wound or animal bite. If it is time for your booster, ask your healthcare provider about getting the Tdap version of the vaccine, so that you can be better protected against pertussis.
   
• Shingles: This vaccine is recommended as a single shot for all adults 60 or older. Caused by a recurrence of the same virus that causes chickenpox, shingles is characterized by a rash that develops along a nerve and is accompanied by debilitating pain. Anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles (see Ask the VEC below).
   
•  Pneumococcal vaccine: The pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for the following groups of people: adults that are 65 years or older; people with chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, alcoholism, or chronic liver disease; people without a spleen (see Spotlight section below); people with Hodgkin's disease,lymphoma, multiple myeloma, chronic renal failure, kidney disease or organ transplantation; people undergoing chemotherapy; people infected with
  the AIDS virus; and people living in high-risk environments or social settings, such as Alaskan natives and some American Indian populations. Pneumococcal infections can lead to pneumonia, blood infections, or meningitis.
   
•  Human Papillomavirus: This vaccine can prevent cervical cancer and genital warts and is given to young girls and women between 9 and 26 years of age.
   
• Hepatitis A: This vaccine prevents a liver infection caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water. This is often considered to be a traveler's vaccine; however, cases occur annually in the U.S. People who are at an increased risk of getting this disease include people with chronic liver disease and those receiving certain clotting factors as well as illegal drug users, men who have sex with men and people who work with the hepatitis A virus in a laboratory setting. However, anyone can benefit from receiving the hepatitis A vaccine.
   
• Hepatitis B: The hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for healthcare and public safety workers who may be exposed to blood or body fluids; some people with renal disease or people receiving hemodialysis; men who have sex with men; people who have multiple sexual partners; people who use illegal injection drugs; and people with chronic liver disease, HIV, or those who receive clotting factors. Hepatitis B is a cause of liver disease and liver cancer.
   
• Meningococcal vaccine: People who should get the meningococcal vaccine include those without a spleen; people with an uncommon immune problem called complement deficiency; military recruits and lab workers. People traveling to areas where meningococcal infections are common should also get the vaccine. Meningococcus can infect the blood causing sepsis and the brain and spinal cord causing meningitis.
   
• MMR and Varicella: Adults who have not had measles, mumps, rubella or chickenpox are recommended to get the appropriate vaccine(s) to protect them against these diseases, particularly because the immunization of children has made these diseases less common, so adults tend to experience more severe cases.

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Spotlight: Families Encounter Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

Despite successful immunization programs in the U.S., every year some families experience the devastating effects of vaccine-preventable diseases. Recently, we were contacted by some of these families who agreed to share their stories on our Parents PACK Web site:

Martha Sands-Duff's husband succumbed to an infection with pneumococcus in early August 2007. He did not have a spleen and was unaware that he needed to get the pneumococcal vaccine. Read Martha's story»

Jan Nichols had polio as a first-grader in the 1950s; her twin brother died from his infection. Throughout her life, lasting effects from this infection as a young child have reminded her that although she recovered, she was no longer the same person she was prior to her encounter with polio. Read Jan's story»

The Immunization Action Coalition has spent a great deal of time collecting stories about families who have had experiences with vaccine-preventable diseases. The series is known as the Unprotected People series and there are several reports in the collection that show the importance of immunizing adults against pertussis to protect young infants. Read Unprotected People Report Nos. 55, 72, 74 and 76»

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Did You Know?. . .Facts about Adult Immunizations

More than 40,000 adults die each year in the U.S. from vaccine-preventable diseases. Most of thesedeaths are caused by influenza.

Eight of every 10 women will have had an infection with human papillomavirus by the age of 50 years. About 3,700 deaths occur each year from cervical cancer, most of which are caused by the viruses that the vaccine protects against.

During travel, hepatitis A is the most commonly contracted vaccine-preventable disease. About 100 people in the U.S. die from hepatitis A each year.

Most of the annual deaths from tetanus occur in people that are 60 years or older and diabetic.

Adults are more likely to die from infections with chickenpox than are children.

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Ask the VEC — Shingles

Q. Is shingles contagious?

A. An infection with shingles cannot cause others to get shingles; however, it can cause them to get chickenpox if they have not had chickenpox or the vaccine. This is because when someone has chickenpox, some of the virus will continue to live silently in nerve cells. As that person's immune system weakens due to age or illness, the virus may become active and cause shingles. When the shingles rash develops, live chickenpox viruses are contained in the blisters, so if others who have not been exposed to chickenpox come into contact with the live viruses, they could develop chickenpox.

Send us your comments

If you have any comments about this newsletter or suggestions about how we can make our Web site more helpful, please send your comments to contactPACK@email.chop.edu.

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