WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2008
Study: Too Many Adults Skip Vaccinations
Health Officials Say Grown-Ups Are Avoiding Shots That Could Ward Off Suffering
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Play CBS Video Video Study: Adults Skipping Shots Dr. Jon LaPook speaks with Katie Couric about an alarming CDC study showing that many adults are skipping important vaccinations, placing themselves at risk against a number of preventable diseases.
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(AP)
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The numbers of newly vaccinated are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new shots - which protect against shingles, whooping cough and cervical cancer - received in recent years.
Yet many 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 even naming diseases that they could prevent with a simple inoculation.
"There are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years," said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "By skipping vaccination, people are leaving themselves needlessly vulnerable to significant illness, long-term suffering and even death."
The new CDC report found:
There are several reasons such a small percentage of adults get vaccinated, according to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. Among those are cost, availability and accessibility -- which has to do with how many doctors readily offer the vaccines.
"Doctors have a tendency to hold back for the first year or so to see if any side effects pop out," LaPook said. "If you're a doctor, you don't want to adopt it too soon; you don't want to adopt it too late."
Price has to be part of the reason: 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 as there is for child vaccines.Learn more at Couric & Co. Blog: Adults, Give It A Shot!
But cost can't be the main reason: Adults aren't taking full advantage of some inexpensive standby vaccines, either. CDC found that just 69 percent of seniors get the flu shot; 66 percent have had a one-time pneumonia vaccine; and 44 percent had received a tetanus shot in the past 10 years.
Supply, also can be a deterrent. In recent years, some areas of the country have had flu vaccine shortages, though this year there was no shortage, LaPook said.
MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Your story about the shingles vaccine left out a few key details. In the story, Dr. LaPook describes the vaccine as "effective." However, it is really only about 55% effective in preventing shingles. Compared to other vaccines that have 90% or greater efficacy, that is terrible. Also, you mentioned that doctors aren''t familiar with it so they aren''t offering it to their patients. However, the vast majority of patients for whom the vaccine is indicated are insured by medicare. Medicare will not pay for the cost of the vaccine. Therefore, patients will get stuck with a $230 bill if they choose to get the vaccine.
I would love to have all my patients 60 and older receive the vaccine. However, after I let them know that it costs $230 and it''s only 55% effective, they usually decline.
That is why only 2% of eligible adults have received the vaccine. - Reply to this comment
- EBANON, N.H. %u2014 A lead researcher who spent 20 years developing the vaccine for humanpapilloma virus says the HPV vaccine is not for younger girls, and that it is "silly" for states to be mandating it for them.
Not only that, she says it''s not been tested for effectiveness in younger girls, and administering the vaccine to girls as young as 9 may not even protect them at all. And, in the worst-case scenario, instead of serving to reduce the numbers of cervical cancers within 25 years, such a vaccination crusade actually could cause the numbers to go up.
"Giving it to 11-year-olds is a great big public health experiment," said Diane M. Harper, who is a scientist, physician, professor and the director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire.
"It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11- to 12-year-old girls There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue." - Reply to this comment
- The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said one of the young women who received Gardasil died in Germany while the other was in Austria. It has not released their ages.
It follows the deaths of three young women aged 12, 19 and 22 who were reported to have died in the U.S. days after Gardasil was administered, with 1,700 patients suffering "adverse reactions". There were no previous recorded deaths in Europe. - Reply to this comment
- Why would I go get a flu shot and inject toxic mercury, formaldehyde, antifreeze and who knows what else into my body on purpose? I''m a healthy adult. If someone coughs on me and I get the flu, I''ll be sick for a week, have some cold medicine and chicken soup, drink lots of fluids, and get better. Unless you are elderly or immune compromised, the flu is no big deal. And the shot doesn''t even work that well in the elderly. So, again, why exactly are we supposed to believe the CDC?
- Reply to this comment
- Prayers aren''''''''t just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are bowing their heads, disappointed Saints reported Wednesday.
The numbers of newly offered prayers are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new prayers - which protect against selfishness, impulsiveness, and dishonesty - received in recent years.
Yet many seem to have missed, or forgotten, the news: A survey by the National Foundation for Deadly Sins found that aside from lust, most adults have trouble even naming sins that they could prevent with a simple prayer.
"There are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years," said God. "By skipping prayer, people are leaving themselves needlessly vulnerable to soulful illness, long-term suffering and even spiritual death."
Isn''''''''t it frightening how science has made almost a one-for-one replacement for God? In whom do YOU trust? - Reply to this comment
- Prayers aren''''''''t just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are bowing their heads, disappointed Saints reported Wednesday.
The numbers of newly offered prayers are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new prayers - which protect against selfishness, impulsiveness, and dishonesty - received in recent years.
Yet many seem to have missed, or forgotten, the news: A survey by the National Foundation for Deadly Sins found that aside from lust, most adults have trouble even naming sins that they could prevent with a simple prayer.
"There are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years," said God. "By skipping prayer, people are leaving themselves needlessly vulnerable to soulful illness, long-term suffering and even spiritual death."
Isn''''''''t it frightening how science has made almost a one-for-one replacement for God? In whom do YOU trust? - Reply to this comment
- Prayers aren''''t just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are bowing their heads, disappointed Saints reported Wednesday.
The numbers of newly offered prayers are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new prayers - which protect against selfishness, impulsiveness, and dishonesty - received in recent years.
Yet many seem to have missed, or forgotten, the news: A survey by the National Foundation for Deadly Sins found that aside from lust, most adults have trouble even naming sins that they could prevent with a simple prayer.
"There are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years," said God. "By skipping prayer, people are leaving themselves needlessly vulnerable to soulful illness, long-term suffering and even spiritual death."
Isn''''t it frightening how science has made almost a one-for-one replacement for God? In whom do YOU trust? - Reply to this comment
- But zemoleman, no insurance doesn''''t mean I can''''t come up with 150 lousy bucks, once, if it means never going through that again. Having no insurance is an emergency if you get cancer/AIDS/paralysis/schizophrenia/etc. but sheesh, if you have a computer and Internet service then evidently you have disposable income so you can spend it on your health sometimes.
Posted by YohnVilson
It ain''t just the "$150 bucks". It costs lots of bucks here in NY just to get in to see the doctor if you don''t have insurance, so we''re talking closer to $400-500 just to get a shot. Given that most of us are still waiting to see any part of that $20 Billion Post-911 $$$ promised us, and that the NYC Metro area still hasn''t recovered economically from the attack, don''t run off at the mouth about what we can and can''t afford. Just keeping a roof over my head and paying my bills is about all I can handle--paying one of the many quacks around here $500 for a shot ain''t in the budget buddy. - Reply to this comment
- Don''t trust the Shots - IT''S X-FILES ALL OVER AGAIN!
The shots contain - Mind Control Chemicals - Tracking chemicals.
These shots Genetically alter humans for Aliens - they want us for food!
It''s the Secret United Nations Sub-Government trying to control the world.
All I can say is have the Dr. LaPook get a new hair piece/wig - this one looks ridiculous on him.
Everyone should send him a bottle of hair dye. - Reply to this comment
- Maybe the Public is so very aware of the mercury in these vaccines. Vaccines are for Big Pharma''s profit.
- Reply to this comment
- HPV shot doesn''t prevent all variations of the disease, not even all the cancer-causing ones, so it''s not even guaranteed to prevent HPV let alone cancer. In the clinical trial, 5 women who got pregnant within 30 days of having the vaccine had babies with congenital birth defects. And it is less effective the more partners one has had, so if you''ve already been sleeping around you might as well not bother. The only reason for adult dudes to rush out and get this shot would be to boost their Pharma stocks.
- Reply to this comment
- Everyone who is sane skips vaccinations...just look at what is in them...the cancer causing SV40 was in the polio vaccines...they''ve got mercury and every other sort of poison in them...Ask yourself why the Amish don''t have autistic children.
Add mercury to the rat poison, sodium fluoride, to the mercury and what you come up with...read your fluoride toothpaste tube and see what they say to do if you swallow. ''Scientific American'' just came out with an article on the dangers of this poison.
Fluoride lowers IQ, harms teeth and bones and increases cancer rates...so, if the SV40 doesn''t take maybe the fluoride will.
Relax America! Get your vaccinations--like the recent Merck vaccine for little girls...that may well cause an increase in cancer while not even claiming to prevent cancer. Some little girls have died horribly from their parents ignorance...Lap up some fluoridated water and guzzle a pint of hormones and pus that is labeled "milk". - Reply to this comment
- Prayers aren''t just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are bowing their heads, disappointed Saints reported Wednesday.
The numbers of newly offered prayers are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new prayers - which protect against selfishness, impulsiveness, and dishonesty - received in recent years.
Yet many seem to have missed, or forgotten, the news: A survey by the National Foundation for Deadly Sins found that aside from lust, most adults have trouble even naming sins that they could prevent with a simple prayer.
"There are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years," said God. "By skipping prayer, people are leaving themselves needlessly vulnerable to soulful illness, long-term suffering and even spiritual death."
Isn''t it frightening how science has made almost a one-for-one replacement for God? In whom do YOU trust? - Reply to this comment
- I recently got a Tetanus shot after getting cut on the farm and ended up having to have the Whooping cough and Diptheria vacinations as they are all rolled up in one. When was the last time you worried you might get Diphtheria? I don''t trust these greedy drug companies any farther than I can hurl! Even if these are wonderful and safe I will never trust blindly again these corporations. They do use us as human Guinea Pigs! Drug companies give doctors perks for pushing drugs so how can we have any faith in the system.
- Reply to this comment
- I think we see who newster''s God is. Science promises him absolute pleasure and painlessness with seemingly no consequence and he is willing to enslave himself to it.
Do you hope to live forever, newster? Are you ever safe enough? Do you ever have enough?
It will run out. You are never safe. Not if you trust the world of man. - Reply to this comment
- "Each time I spend $500 or $1000 on a health problem, I think how much I saved by not paying insurance premiums that year. Still ahead of the game. "
Right, ahead of the game untill you need a $100,000 triple heart by-pass or something, then those premiums you "saved" will look like chump change when you get the bill and lose your house because you cant pay it. - Reply to this comment
- " Don''''t let the drug companies brain wash you with scare tactics that you need vaccines and other drugs to stay healthy..
Posted by eastwooddane"
Ok, skip your vaccines and let someone with tuberculosis, influenza, measles or some other disease cough on you and let''s see how healthy you stay with diet and excersize!
You can catch those and much more just being in an elevator or room someone SNEEZED in minutes before! - Reply to this comment
- Orgasms arent just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are bowing their heads, disappointed officials reported Wednesday.
The numbers of newly offered s3x devices are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new devices - which protect against disease, unwanted babies, and dishonesty - received in recent years.
Yet many seem to have missed, or forgotten, the news: A survey by the National Foundation for s3xual health found that aside from lust, most adults have trouble even naming diseases that they could prevent with a simple condome.
"There are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years," said the official. "By skipping condomes, people are leaving themselves needlessly vulnerable to illness, long-term suffering and even death."
Isnt it frightening how religious rightwingers have made almost a one-for-one replacement for life, s3x and enjoyment? In whom do YOU trust? some Santa Claus fairy tale in the sky, or what you see here during the life you have here today? - Reply to this comment
- "sn''''t it frightening how science has made almost a one-for-one replacement for religion? In whom do YOU trust?
Posted by blazercoach1"
I trust SCIENCE, with provable peer- reviewed studies and experiments, not some Santa Claus fairy-land bullchit in the sky! - Reply to this comment
- "whooping cough in the two years since it hit the market. "
Right, like we want to be the drug companies'' GUINEA PIGS for new hardly tested vaccines with mercury preservatives in them. - Reply to this comment
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