Few Adults Get Vaccinated

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Few adults get vaccinated

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-

briefly28jan28,1,3109151.story

Vaccines aren't just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are rolling

up their sleeves, disappointed federal health officials reported

Wednesday.

The numbers of the newly vaccinated are surprisingly low, considering

how much public attention a trio of new shots -- which protect

against shingles, whooping cough and cervical cancer -- have received.

Yet many people seem to have missed, or forgotten, the news: A survey

by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found that aside

from the flu, most adults have trouble naming diseases that they

could prevent with a simple inoculation.

" We really need to get beyond the mentality that vaccines are for

kids. Vaccines are for everybody, " said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who called the new data

sobering.

The new report found:

* Only about 2% of Americans age 60 and older received a vaccine

against shingles in its first year of sales.

* About 2% of adults ages 18 to 64 got a booster shot against

whooping cough in the two years since it hit the market.

* About 10% of women ages 18 to 26 have received at least one dose of

a three-shot series that protects against the human papillomavirus,

or HPV, that causes cervical cancer.

Price may play a role in these low vaccination rates. The shingles

shot costs around $150, and the three-shot HPV vaccine about $300,

and insurance coverage varies. There's no national program to

guarantee access for adults who can't afford vaccines.