Most adults ensure that their children get vaccinated against childhood diseases, but many neglect to get their own immunizations. Even those who are well-informed about health do not seem to know that adults, too, need vaccines. Nearly 50,000 adults die in America each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that these illnesses cost society $10 billion a year. Reaching adults with vaccines takes creative thinking, but it can be done. France, among other countries with an effective adult vaccination program, has shown that.

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While all children need the basic immunizations, adults' needs are more varied, an obstacle to getting out the vaccine message. People over 50, and those with chronic heart, lung or kidney problems, should get an annual flu vaccine. But in 2001 only a quarter of adults from 18 to 64 at specific risk were vaccinated. Older adults and those with special health problems should also be vaccinated against pneumococcal disease - the most common cause of pneumonia, accounting for some 175,000 hospitalizations each year. In addition, Hepatitis B, which is transmitted through sex and shared needles, kills 5,000 adults a year in the United States.

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Adults should also get a tetanus booster every ten years. Certain people should get vaccinated against Hepatitis A, chickenpox, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella. In the next few years vaccines are likely to become available against the herpes virus and the human papilloma virus - the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted infection and the leading cause of cervical cancer.

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Children benefit from a good vaccine infrastructure. Pediatricians inform parents about vaccines and have the facilities to administer them. Schools and day care centers require proof of immunization. In most cases, an insurance company or the government pays for vaccines. Many states have a computerized registry to track immunizations.

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Adults have none of these advantages. They tend to see doctors when they are sick, and those doctors are often specialists who rarely mention vaccines. Despite the fact that adult vaccines are extremely cost effective, Medicare and insurance coverage is spotty. Adults are often unsure of which shots they have had.

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As children's vaccine coverage has improved, money has become available in the last five years to help build an infrastructure for adults. But it has a long way to go. The Hepatitis B vaccine should be available in prisons, at college health clinics and clinics for sexually transmitted disease. All doctors' offices and hospitals should provide information about adult vaccines, and clinics and doctors who see patients on a regular basis, such as gynecologists, urologists and cardiologists, should offer vaccines. State registries for children could be expanded to allow adults to input and track their own immunization histories online. It's worth investing in ways to facilitate a basic, cost-effective health measure that not only helps protect adults, but everyone in their households.

Most adults ensure that their children get vaccinated against childhood diseases, but many neglect to get their own immunizations. Even those who are well-informed about health do not seem to know that adults, too, need vaccines. Nearly 50,000 adults die in America each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that these illnesses cost society $10 billion a year. Reaching adults with vaccines takes creative thinking, but it can be done. France, among other countries with an effective adult vaccination program, has shown that.

.

While all children need the basic immunizations, adults' needs are more varied, an obstacle to getting out the vaccine message. People over 50, and those with chronic heart, lung or kidney problems, should get an annual flu vaccine. But in 2001 only a quarter of adults from 18 to 64 at specific risk were vaccinated. Older adults and those with special health problems should also be vaccinated against pneumococcal disease - the most common cause of pneumonia, accounting for some 175,000 hospitalizations each year. In addition, Hepatitis B, which is transmitted through sex and shared needles, kills 5,000 adults a year in the United States.

.

Adults should also get a tetanus booster every ten years. Certain people should get vaccinated against Hepatitis A, chickenpox, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella. In the next few years vaccines are likely to become available against the herpes virus and the human papilloma virus - the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted infection and the leading cause of cervical cancer.

.

Children benefit from a good vaccine infrastructure. Pediatricians inform parents about vaccines and have the facilities to administer them. Schools and day care centers require proof of immunization. In most cases, an insurance company or the government pays for vaccines. Many states have a computerized registry to track immunizations.

.

Adults have none of these advantages. They tend to see doctors when they are sick, and those doctors are often specialists who rarely mention vaccines. Despite the fact that adult vaccines are extremely cost effective, Medicare and insurance coverage is spotty. Adults are often unsure of which shots they have had.

.

As children's vaccine coverage has improved, money has become available in the last five years to help build an infrastructure for adults. But it has a long way to go. The Hepatitis B vaccine should be available in prisons, at college health clinics and clinics for sexually transmitted disease. All doctors' offices and hospitals should provide information about adult vaccines, and clinics and doctors who see patients on a regular basis, such as gynecologists, urologists and cardiologists, should offer vaccines. State registries for children could be expanded to allow adults to input and track their own immunization histories online. It's worth investing in ways to facilitate a basic, cost-effective health measure that not only helps protect adults, but everyone in their households.

Most adults ensure that their children get vaccinated against childhood diseases, but many neglect to get their own immunizations. Even those who are well-informed about health do not seem to know that adults, too, need vaccines. Nearly 50,000 adults die in America each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that these illnesses cost society $10 billion a year. Reaching adults with vaccines takes creative thinking, but it can be done. France, among other countries with an effective adult vaccination program, has shown that.

.

While all children need the basic immunizations, adults' needs are more varied, an obstacle to getting out the vaccine message. People over 50, and those with chronic heart, lung or kidney problems, should get an annual flu vaccine. But in 2001 only a quarter of adults from 18 to 64 at specific risk were vaccinated. Older adults and those with special health problems should also be vaccinated against pneumococcal disease - the most common cause of pneumonia, accounting for some 175,000 hospitalizations each year. In addition, Hepatitis B, which is transmitted through sex and shared needles, kills 5,000 adults a year in the United States.

.

Adults should also get a tetanus booster every ten years. Certain people should get vaccinated against Hepatitis A, chickenpox, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella. In the next few years vaccines are likely to become available against the herpes virus and the human papilloma virus - the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted infection and the leading cause of cervical cancer.

.

Children benefit from a good vaccine infrastructure. Pediatricians inform parents about vaccines and have the facilities to administer them. Schools and day care centers require proof of immunization. In most cases, an insurance company or the government pays for vaccines. Many states have a computerized registry to track immunizations.

.

Adults have none of these advantages. They tend to see doctors when they are sick, and those doctors are often specialists who rarely mention vaccines. Despite the fact that adult vaccines are extremely cost effective, Medicare and insurance coverage is spotty. Adults are often unsure of which shots they have had.

.

As children's vaccine coverage has improved, money has become available in the last five years to help build an infrastructure for adults. But it has a long way to go. The Hepatitis B vaccine should be available in prisons, at college health clinics and clinics for sexually transmitted disease. All doctors' offices and hospitals should provide information about adult vaccines, and clinics and doctors who see patients on a regular basis, such as gynecologists, urologists and cardiologists, should offer vaccines. State registries for children could be expanded to allow adults to input and track their own immunization histories online. It's worth investing in ways to facilitate a basic, cost-effective health measure that not only helps protect adults, but everyone in their households.