There’s a needle for that
Adults need to maintain their vaccinations throughout their lives
NORTH SYDNEY — As students head back to class this week, parents are being encouraged to make sure their children have the standard vaccinations so they’ll be immune to such deadly diseases as whooping cough, measles and others.
While parents want to ensure the health of their offspring, what about the parents themselves?
“It’s important parents and guardians make sure their children’s — and their own — immunizations are up-to-date and to keep a record of them,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health. “Vaccines protect you and your children, as well as those around you, from a number of serious diseases.”
It is estimated that only three per cent of Canadians have the correct number of vaccines for their age. Most people can check with their health-care providers to see what vaccines or boosters they need. If you don’t currently have a doctor or have reasons not to go to one for this, pharmacists throughout Nova Scotia can also supply several vaccinations. While flu vaccinations are free, there are charges for other vaccinations but these may be covered under your private health-care plan.
Whatever you need, fall is a good time to get up-to-date on this health matter.
“Sometimes from a mom’s perspective, we just forget about ourselves,” admits Tanya Howley, owner and pharmacist of Shoppers Drug Mart North Sydney. “But adults need boosters to keep their immunity up.”
Howley expects a lot of adults aren’t keeping their boosters up to date because it’s easy to forget about it, most are more concerned about keeping their children’s up-to-date and negative information that has appeared on the internet claiming that vaccines are harmful.
“There’s a lot of information out there that’s not warranted that needs to be addressed,” said Howley. “Diseases are coming back and it’s having a detrimental effect.”
If everyone receives their vaccinations, they are protected from not only getting the disease but also they are helping to prevent further spreading and outbreaks among others.
“It’s not OK to not vaccinate a child,” said Howley. “It’s going to be mandatory in New Brunswick but you need to do it here too.”
Adults who are over the age of 50 should seriously consider getting the shingles vaccine since shingles can affect as many as one-third of adults and can lead to painful complications and after-effects that may not end once the outbreak goes away.
“It can be severely detrimental,” said Howley, adding that while it can be a costly vaccine, some private health-care plans do cover it so it is worth checking out ahead of time.
While there are standard vaccinations and boosters that everyone should get, Howley says it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation and that while certain people may benefit from certain shots, others may not need them. As for those who believe that vaccinations are not needed or are dangerous, Howley says those claims aren’t backed up by science.
“Don’t believes everything you read on the internet.”