Vaccination of adults is an essential part of keeping adults healthy, and reducing the risk of illness, disability, and death due to vaccine preventable diseases. Vaccines are available for adults to prevent serious diseases such as influenza (flu), pneumonia, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), herpes zoster (shingles), and hepatitis A and B. The vaccines you need as an adult depend on several factors, including age, prior vaccinations, lifestyle, health conditions, job, pregnancy status, travel, and other considerations. Germs can spread quickly in the home or workplace, affecting entire communities. Vaccination is the key to stopping vaccine-preventable diseases before they start.
Local, state, and federal health departments use surveys to measure adult vaccination coverage, which is the estimated number of adults who have received particular vaccines. The information collected is used to identify groups with lower vaccination coverage, so health departments can take action to increase vaccination coverage among those groups. On this site, you can learn more about those surveys, their results, and other issues relating to adult vaccination.
For Specific Groups
- Page last reviewed: January 29, 2016
- Page last updated: May 15, 2017
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