Adults not keeping up with vaccinations

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just 2.1 percent of adults aged 18 to 64 are immunized against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, even though since 2006 there has been a combined vaccine that protects against all three. Simularly, only 1.9 percent of adults have received a shingles vaccination and only about 10 percent of women aged 18 to 26 have received the new vaccine for human papillomavirus, which is linked to cervical cancer (Source: “Get Your Shots: Adults Need Vaccines, Too," Wall Street Journal, July 9, 2008).

Given those statistics, the American Medical Association has begun a push to create a national adult vaccination program. "It's far better to prevent these diseases than to have to treat them, and with the array of vaccines we have available, people ought to be taking better advantage," says Gina Mootrey, associate director for the CDC's adult immunization services division.