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Staying Up-to-Date with Adult Vaccines: What You Need to Know · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking Facts, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Hello and welcome to Talking Facts, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness. I am your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist
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  for Instructional Support with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the
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  University of Kentucky.
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  We are housed in the Martin Datton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.
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  When we have newborns or young children, vaccine schedules are something we
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  talk about at every well child visit with our healthcare provider.
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  But how many of us really think about or keep up with our vaccines as we age?
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  My guest today, Katherine Jury, our Extension Specialist for Family Health,
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  is here to share with us about adult vaccine schedules.
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  Mindy, thanks for having me on today. And what do we really need to know about adult vaccines?
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  Apparently, we need to know a lot because statistically about three-fourths
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  or 75% of the American adult population is missing one of their recommended vaccines.
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  I don't have any problem believing that to be true because I know every time
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  I cut myself in the kitchen or have some kind of an injury out in the garden
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  and I have to go see the doctor that would be like, when was your last tetanus vaccine?
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  I'm like, can't really remember.
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  And so then we have to go look it up. And so I would imagine that there are
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  lots of other vaccines that I'm missing or that I need to keep up. And you're not alone.
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  You're actually in the majority.
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  And something that we've seen post-COVID is that more adults than ever before
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  are missing one of those vaccines.
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  And now we're starting to see those preventable diseases on the rise.
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  We're seeing more incidents of disease that is preventable with a vaccine.
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  So we are starting, unfortunately, communally and societally to see what happens when.
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  More adults than typical are missing more vaccines than they should.
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  So as we really work hard to make sure that our children are vaccinated,
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  I would assume that for the same reasons, we want to make sure that adults are vaccinated.
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  But do we vaccinate adults for those very same reasons?
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  Oftentimes, yes. The biggest reasons why we take vaccines are to lower our risk of severe disease,
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  Primarily, there are some vaccines that can all but eliminate our chances of
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  getting a certain disease, while most vaccines severely reduce our likelihood of severe disease.
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  So we may still catch whatever that disease is, but because our body has immunity
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  to it, we're a lot less likely to experience those severe effects or severe
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  infection or complications.
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  Similarly, when we have some immunity, when we are less likely to have those
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  severe effects of disease, we also are lowering our chances of spreading that disease to others.
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  Our overall viral load is lower, so it's not that we don't have germs to spread,
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  but we have fewer germs to spread.
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  Also, vaccines are our best defense against hard-to-treat diseases.
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  So we have vaccines because there are diseases in the world that are just really
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  difficult to treat or there's no cure for.
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  So a vast majority of our vaccines fall into that category.
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  They are to try to prevent diseases that once somebody catches them,
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  we don't have really surefire ways to cure them or to help somebody feel better
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  quickly or to escape those severe effects.
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  And right now I am thinking about shingles because I have seen people who have
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  just been debilitated with shingles.
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  And so when I turned 50 and could go get my shingles vaccine,
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  I was first in line to sign up and say, give me that shingles vaccine because
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  I don't want to be in the same position that those people have been in who have had to deal with that.
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  And so that's one of those vaccines that I do know that I've had that vaccine
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  because I saw the effects of it and I didn't want to have to deal with that.
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  That's one of those vaccines that we can, you know, get as we age.
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  But there are others. So what vaccines do we need?
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  So there are some variables for folks.
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  The majority of the adult population is eligible for and should get a flu vaccine,
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  and a COVID vaccine every year in the fall before the end of October, if possible.
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  Okay. So that's one kind of category is those annual vaccines.
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  Another vaccine that you've already mentioned is that Tdap vaccine.
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  That's the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine that as adults,
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  we need one every 10 years.
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  Women who are pregnant will receive one of these vaccines every pregnancy.
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  So if you're a person who is in those childbearing years, you have likely received
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  one of these at least as recent as your youngest child.
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  But for the rest of the adult population, once every 10 years is how often we
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  need a new vaccine for that.
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  And tetanus, we know, we're susceptible to that when we encounter,
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  like you said, those sharp, rusty objects.
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  And oftentimes we don't anticipate encountering those things,
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  whether it's in the workplace, at home, outdoors, or as a result of a cleaning
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  up from a natural disaster. Exactly. Exactly.
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  So that's really an important vaccine to keep a check on it and to get on a regular interval.
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  Also, if you're going to be around small babies, the reason why moms get that
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  vaccine for each pregnancy is to give our tiny babies a little bit of immunity
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  to diphtheria and pertussis, which is whooping cough.
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  And we know that that's very, very dangerous for tiny babies if they were to
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  get it. So we really want to provide that community protection against that
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  disease for our tiny babies.
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  And then you've already mentioned this one as well. Healthy adults 50 years
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  and older should get a shingles vaccine.
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  And then added to that, within the past two years,
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  people in that older age category 65 and older are recommended to get a pneumococcal
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  vaccine, as well as potentially an RSV vaccine.
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  There's also a whole list of additional vaccines that depending on your exact
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  age as an adult, your vaccine history,
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  your travel plans, and other lifestyle factors that you may need as well.
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  We can link that in the show notes.
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  And so that's from the CDC. And we can provide that chart in the show notes
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  so that people can look up their particular situation and find what vaccines that they might need.
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  But in addition to that, then they can also talk to their healthcare provider, correct?
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  Yes. So the CDC vaccine schedule is a great resource. It is categorized by age.
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  So it's easy to read and easy to interpret vaccines that you may need.
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  But always, we recommend talking to your health care provider about your specific situation.
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  So obviously your age, but also your medical history,
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  your lifestyle, if you are traveling or you have certain occupations or even
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  hobbies, things that can impact different types of disease that you may come into contact with.
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  So always have that conversation with your health care provider.
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  And that CDC vaccine schedule is a great place to start that conversation.
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  Sounds like a great idea. Catherine, before we wrap up, do you have any last
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  thoughts that we need to share on adult vaccines?
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  Primarily just to remind folks that it's really common as adults that we don't
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  go to the doctor unless we're sick.
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  And then when we're sick, we forget, you know, those other preventative care conversations.
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  And so that's why our annual well exam is so important. So, it's another thing
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  on the calendar, another thing to remember, but really valuable are preventative
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  care and just quality of life.
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  You know, the old adage of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure really
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  is the case when it comes to annual physicals, well exams, screenings,
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  and certainly vaccines.
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  I think that is a great way to wrap up this discussion.
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  And if you need further information, reach out to your local Extension office.
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  If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Talking Facts,
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  and you can find us wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.
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  Music.