Audio clip
Ann Rybolt
Grown-ups, roll up your sleeves.
Most adults fail to keep up with their vaccinations, a new study shows.
Only 2 percent of adults are currently protected against shingles, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey reported in January.
Only 10 percent of women under 26 have received a new vaccine against cervical cancer.
Local doctors say they lack information about area vaccination rates. Yet the problem occurs here, too.
“We know there are lots of adults out there who haven’t kept up to date,” said Sharon Goforth, special project supervisor for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.
Shingles, whooping cough, tetanus, flu and pneumonia all pose serious dangers to adults, said Dr. Ann Rybolt, a physician with University Medical Associates and Erlanger hospital.
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, has reemerged in the past 10 years. The painful disease strikes up to a million people each year.
Shingles, a painful condition that lasts for years, attacks another 1 million people each year. Only two percent of Americans over 60 have been vaccinated.
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Staff Photos by Dan Henry -- Hixson resident Donna Wilson, left, receives immunization shots for typhoid and hepatitis A and B from LPN Denise Morris at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. Ms. Morris said that 85 percent of the vaccines she distributes to adults are for overseas travel.
Pneumonia cases are also on the rise, especially among seniors.
Routine doctor visits aren’t routine any more either. People would be wise to keep their own records, Dr. Rybolt said. Vaccination charts are available at www.immunize.org.
Insurance coverage is also a concern.
Medicare patients qualify for a free preventive exam within the first six months after getting into Medicare. This visit is an “ideal time to address vaccinations,” Dr. Rybolt said.
A shingles vaccination costs about $200, Dr. Rybolt said. Not all Medicare Part D providers cover it, though. Ask which providers do cover it when enrolling.
Even when adults and their doctors keep up with shots, though, travel presents fresh challenges.
Donna Wilson, a 38-year-old Hixson homemaker, recently appeared at the health department for hepatitis and typhoid shots. After signing up for a mission trip to Honduras in April, she learned the shots were required.
Until she became pregnant with her first child, Mrs. Wilson said, she failed to track vaccinations, too. Then, she began visiting her doctor around her birthdate, to make it easier to remember.
“The doctor sat me down and told me I was past due on mumps/measles/rubella. But I had to wait until after I had the baby to get that shot. After that I thought, ‘OK, maybe I should keep up with it,’” Mrs. Wilson said.
Vaccination information
Talk with your doctor, or call the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department’s immunization outreach department: (423) 290-8000.
