Few people are taking advantage of immunizations

Although there are now 17 diseases that can be prevented from vaccines given to children, teens, and adults, uptake on these prophylactic measures is low. That's the message from a press conference held by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). According to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, only 1.9% of the elderly are immunized against shingles and only 2.1% of adults from 18 to 64 years of age have received the tetanus-diphtheria-whooping cough vaccine. Besides these two vaccines, immunization can also be obtained for chickenpox, hepatitis A and B, HPV, influenza, measles, meningococcal disease, mumps, pneumococcal disease, and rubella. NFID officials called for a concerted effort to raise adult immunization rates to reduce morbidity and mortality.

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