Stay on top of your Vaccines
Staying on top of your health – and your vaccines!
With a new year often comes a renewed commitment to your health. Time to burn off those holiday calories and get on top healthy eating and feeling good! An important part of keeping on top of your health is making sure you stay disease free! One of the best ways to do this is to stay on top of your vaccines. Believe it or not it’s not just children or people going travelling who need vaccines. People at home need vaccines too! The flu shot is a great start but there are many more to consider!
Adults need boosters too
The need for vaccination does not end after childhood, as many people may think. Some diseases such as measles, mumps and whooping cough are still a risk in BC. Protection from many vaccines received as a child can wear off over time so getting another dose (called a booster) can increase immunity to provide the best and longest lasting protection. Some people cannot get immunized, such as babies that are too young for vaccines, or people with certain medical conditions. Vaccination is the best way to protect you and those around you from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccine-preventable diseases that adults can get immunized for include:
- diphtheria
- hepatitis A
- hepatitis B
- herpes zoster (shingles)
- human papillomavirus (HPV)
- influenza
- measles
- mumps
- meningococcal
- pertussis (whooping cough)
- pneumococcal
- polio
- rubella
- tetanus
- varicella (chicken pox)
Travelling? There might be other vaccines too!
As well as keeping up to date on your routine vaccines, you might need others for travel. Depending on your destination you may also need vaccines for typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever, rabies, cholera, or traveller’s diarrhea.
Whether travelling or not, at TravelSafe clinic we can help you determine what vaccines are needed and how many doses.
It’s never too late to finish your vaccine series!
Sometimes life gets in the way and it’s not always possible to come back to the clinic to complete a vaccine series according to the recommended schedule. It’s never too late to finish! Completing your vaccine series ensures long term protection, so when that next vacation presents itself all you’ll need to worry about is what to pack!
For more information see the Public Health Agency of Canada’s guide, “Not Just For Kids. An Adult Guide to Vaccination”
