dtp vaccine for adults :: Article CreatorWhat's The Difference Between Td And Tdap Vaccines?
Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis are potentially deadly bacterial diseases. To continue the protection provided by childhood vaccination, boosters for tetanus have long been recommended for adults every 10 years.
Dr. Noah Gregory King, a pediatrician in Aurora, Ill. Explains that there are two vaccines commonly given to adults as tetanus boosters – Td and Tdap. The Td vaccine has been used as a booster for adults for a long time and it protects against tetanus and diphtheria.
The other vaccine for adults – Tdap – has been used since 2005. It's the first vaccine for adults and adolescents that adds protection against pertussis as well as tetanus and diphtheria. "Tdap was developed because pertussis outbreaks had been increasing," says Dr. King. "We have found pertussis rates increasing due to decreasing immunity over time."
Pertussis is extremely dangerous for infants, young children, those 60 years or older, and individuals with chronic lung diseases such as asthma or COPD.
People who may need a Tdap booster shot include:
Adults who are pregnant or may become pregnant. Relatives, friends or other caregivers who have close contact with babies younger than 12 months old. Health care workers who have direct patient contact. Adults who have never received Tdap vaccine. Anyone with a severe burn or wound who has not had Tdap previously. People who travel to countries where pertussis is common. Dr. King adds, "After some serious wounds or burns you may receive a tetanus booster even if it has been fewer than 10 years since your last tetanus shot. Both Td and Tdap give a full-strength tetanus dose."
Children get five sequential doses of the DTaP vaccine to protect them from tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, followed by Tdap at age 11.
Where to get tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis booster shots
Your primary care doctor may have Td and Tdap vaccines available in their office or may give you a referral to a place where you can get the vaccine you need. The booster shots may also be available at:
Community health clinics Public health departments Pharmacies Contact your state health department for more information about their availability near you.
All the vaccines for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis are reliable and have been used safely for years. There are risks associated with these vaccines. But these risks are much less serious than the risks associated with getting tetanus, diphtheria or pertussis. Talk to your doctor to learn more about these vaccines and whether they are the right choice for you.
Are you trying to find a doctor? Look here if you live in Illinois. Look here if you live in Wisconsin.
Several Vaccines Associated With Reduced Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease In Adults 65 And Older
image: Paul E. Schulz, MD, the Rick McCord Professor in Neurology with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, was senior author of a study that found several vaccinations were linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. View more
Credit: UTHealth Houston
Prior vaccination against tetanus and diphtheria, with or without pertussis (Tdap/Td); herpes zoster (HZ), better known as shingles; and pneumococcus are all associated with a reduced risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, according to new research from UTHealth Houston.
A pre-press version of a study was published online recently in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. It was led by co-first authors Kristofer Harris, program manager in the Department of Neurology with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston; Yaobin Ling, graduate research assistant with McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston; and Avram Bukhbinder, MD, an alumnus of the medical school. Paul E. Schulz, MD, the Rick McCord Professor in Neurology with McGovern Medical School, was senior author of the paper, which will appear in print in the Sept. 12 issue of the journal, Volume (95) Issue (2).
Alzheimer's disease affects more than 6 million people living in the U.S., with the number of affected individuals growing due to the nation's aging population.
The new findings come just over a year after Schulz's team published another study in the journal, which found that people who received at least one influenza vaccine were 40% less likely than their unvaccinated peers to develop Alzheimer's disease.
"We were wondering whether the influenza finding was specific to the flu vaccine. This data revealed that several additional adult vaccines were also associated with a reduction in the risk of Alzheimer's," said Schulz, who is the Umphrey Family Professor in Neurodegenerative Diseases and director of the Neurocognitive Disorders Center at McGovern Medical School. "We and others hypothesize that the immune system is responsible for causing brain cell dysfunction in Alzheimer's. The findings suggest to us that vaccination is having a more general effect on the immune system that is reducing the risk for developing Alzheimer's."
Researchers performed a retrospective cohort study that included patients who were free of dementia during a two-year lookback period and were at least 65 years old by the start of the eight-year follow-up period. They compared two similar groups of patients using propensity score matching, one vaccinated and another unvaccinated, with Tdap/Td, HZ, or pneumococcal vaccine. Ultimately, they calculated the relative risk and absolute risk reduction for developing Alzheimer's disease.
"This study underscores the pivotal role that large-scale, observational datasets play in biomedical research," Ling said. "It's particularly encouraging to observe consistent results across numerous large-scale health care databases."
"By leveraging modern data analysis models and the very large claims database subscribed by McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, we gained valuable insights into which vaccines may protect against Alzheimer's and potentially develop more effective prevention strategies," said Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, a co-author on the study who holds the Christopher Sarofim Family Professorship in Biomedical Informatics and Bioengineering with McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics.
Patients who received the Tdap/Td vaccine were 30% less likely than their unvaccinated peers to develop Alzheimer's disease (7.2% of vaccinated patients versus 10.2% of unvaccinated patients developed the disease). Similarly, HZ vaccination was associated with a 25% reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (8.1% of vaccinated patients versus 10.7% of unvaccinated patients). For the pneumococcal vaccine, there was an associated 27% reduced risk of developing the disease (7.92% of vaccinated patients versus 10.9% of unvaccinated patients).
For comparison, Schulz said, three new anti-amyloid antibodies used to treat Alzheimer's have shown they slow disease progression by 25%, 27%, and 35%.
"We hypothesize that the reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease associated with vaccines is likely due to a combination of mechanisms," Bukhbinder said. "Vaccines may change how the immune system responds to the build-up of toxic proteins that contribute to Alzheimer's disease, such as by enhancing the efficiency of immune cells at clearing the toxic proteins or by 'honing' the immune response to these proteins so that 'collateral damage' to nearby healthy brain cells is decreased. Of course, these vaccines protect against infections like shingles, which can contribute to neuroinflammation."
Bukhbinder, Harris, Jiang, Ling, and Schulz recently explored the possible mechanisms in an article in Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics.
Bukhbinder said the research provides unique insights on the possible impact of certain vaccine technologies in the protection against Alzheimer's disease.
The Tdap vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough, also known as pertussis, while the Td vaccine protects against the former two. Adults need a Td or Tdap booster shot every 10 years to keep a high level of protection against tetanus, which is commonly referred to as "lockjaw," and diphtheria, a serious bacterial infection that typically affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat.
HZ protects against shingles, a reactivation of the chickenpox virus in the body that causes a painful rash. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends adults 50 years and older, as well as adults 19 years and older who have or will have weakened immune systems because of disease or therapy, get two doses of the shingles vaccine called Shingrix.
Meanwhile, the pneumococcus vaccine protects against pneumonia, meningitis, sinus infection, blood infection, and middle ear infection. Pneumococcal disease is common in young children, but older adults are at greatest risk of serious illness and death; consequently, the CDC recommends pneumococcal vaccination for all children younger than 5 years old and all adults 65 and older.
"This research highlights how important it is for patients to have ready access to routine adult vaccinations," Harris said. "Over the last couple of years, the field of Alzheimer's disease has vastly expanded, especially with the recent approval of anti-amyloid antibody medications by the FDA. However, those medications require costly infrastructure in order to be administered safely. Conversely, adult vaccinations are widely available and are already routinely administered as part of a vaccination schedule. Our findings are a win for both Alzheimer's disease prevention research and for public health in general, as this is one more study demonstrating the value of vaccination."
Co-authors from McGovern Medical School include Kamal Phelps, MD, a recent alumnus; Gabriela Cruz, a third-year student; and Jenna Thomas, a third-year student. Co-authors with McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics include Luyao Chen, MS, scientific programmer; Yejin Kim, PhD, assistant professor; and Jiang. Schulz is also a faculty member with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Bukhbinder is now a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Journal
Journal of Alzheimer s Disease
Article Title
The Impact of Routine Vaccinations on Alzheimer's Disease Risk in Persons 65 Years and Older: A Claims-Based Cohort Study using Propensity Score Matching
Vaccines Are As Important For Adults As They Are For Children
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Vaccinations are just as important for adults as children. Are yours up-to-date?
When we think of keeping up with important vaccinations, it's primarily our kids we may think of.
But health experts stress that vaccinations are just as important for adults.
That's due to a couple reasons: First, vaccines can help protect against both getting and spreading a number of diseases that affect people of all ages, not just children. Also, the protection we get from our childhood vaccinations can fade over time.
The most important vaccines for adults
Except under rare circumstances, the seasonal flu vaccine is important for nearly every adult on an annual basis – especially so for pregnant women, people living with chronic health conditions, and older adults. Additionally, anyone who lives with and/or cares for anyone in these high-risk groups should consider themselves high-risk, as well.
If you're never received it, talk to your doctor about the Tdap vaccine, too, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (or whooping cough). After your initial dose, boosters are recommended every 10 years. And pregnant women should get a Tdap booster between weeks 27 and 25 of each pregnancy.
Finally, health experts continue to urge everyone to keep up with vaccinations—and boosters—for COVID-19, up to CDC's and your doctor's recommendations.
Your doctor may recommend other vaccines, due to a number of factors, including your occupation, your family history, and your individual risk factors.
For example: The HPV vaccination, which helps protect against cervical cancer, is generally recommended for people up to age 26 who didn't get the vaccine as a teenager.
And if you have certain health conditions that may put you at greater risk, your doctor may recommend vaccination against meningitis – Some school systems, in fact, require students to be vaccinated.
And if you're planning to travel outside the country, local environmental factors—or even government policy—may make additional vaccinations necessary.
In any and all cases, talk to your doctor about what vaccinations may—or may not—be appropriate for you.
You can also learn more at optum.Com/utah.
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