To Your Health
Vaccines: Old Standbys and New Arrivals

by Paulette Avery RN, MSN, IBCLC

If you haven't already gotten the flu vaccine, now is a good time to do it. October and November are considered the best months to get the vaccine so you will be protected before the flu season's typical peak during the winter months. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, and the protection may last up to a year. Because the strains of influenza vary from year to year, an annual vaccination is recommended. Fortunately, this year there is plenty of vaccine, so you shouldn't encounter the problems created by vaccine shortages over the past two years.

Since the 2003 licensing of the nasal spray flu vaccine (a live attenuated vaccine made from weakened flu virus), healthy people between the ages of five and 49 who are not pregnant have a new choice that doesn't involve needles. Adults 50 years of age and older, those with long-term health problems, children or adolescents on long-term aspirin treatment, pregnant women, and anyone with a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome should still get the flu shot and not the live vaccine.

You may need other vaccines, too. If you are over 65, ask your doctor about getting a vaccination against pneumonia. And everyone should maintain their protection against tetanus by getting vaccinated every ten years.

Two new vaccines have become available recently. One is Gardasil, a vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cervical cancer. Although the vaccine does not provide protection against all viruses that can lead to cervical cancer, it does protect against the viruses most frequently linked to the disease, as well as providing protection from genital warts and precancerous lesions of the vulva and vagina. Currently, the HPV vaccine is recommended for all females between the ages of 11 and 26. Young women receive the vaccine in three doses given over six months. Vaccinated women still need regular pap smears to check for cervical cancers caused by the 30 percent of the viruses not covered by the new vaccine.

The other new vaccine, Zostavax, fights shingles, a painful condition caused by the reactivation of the herpes zoster virus responsible for chicken pox. Following an infection with chicken pox, the virus settles in nerve tissue near the spinal cord and becomes dormant. Fortunately, for most of us that's the end of the story. However, in some cases the virus becomes active again, causing shingles, most commonly in people 60 or older. And for some shingles victims, the infection leads to persistent pain that can continue for months or even years.

Zostavax can be given to people 60 or older with healthy immune systems who have had chicken pox. Anyone whose immune system is suppressed should not receive this vaccine. Once vaccinated, the likelihood of getting shingles is reduced by 51 percent, and if shingles does occur, it should be a much milder case.

Check with your health-care provider to be sure you and your children have received all recommended vaccines.

Paulette Avery is a registered nurse and a freelance writer who specializes in health issues.