Vaccines adults should ask their doctor about
Calgary doctor says you can still get sick even if you were vaccinated as a child
Even if you had all your shots as a kid, a Calgary doctor says you're likely going to need them again when you're an adult.
"Our immune system's memory is not forever," said Calgary Eyeopener medical contributor Dr. Raj Bhardwaj.
Wanted posters for diseases
He says vaccines are like "wanted posters" for your immune system — they get your body to recognizes the "bad guys."
"If it's exposed to the picture of what that bad guy looks like, then when the bad guy comes into town, your immune can recognize him and take care of him before he starts robbing banks and causing problems."
But if it's been a long time since your immune system has seen that wanted poster, it can actually lose its memory of what the bad guy looks like.
Bhardwaj says a perfect example of this was when Sidney Crosby got the mumps, even though he was vaccinated when he was a child.
"That's why you may want to get an adult booster for certain illnesses," said Bhardwaj.
Diphtheria and tetanus
"If you get tetanus, you're pretty much going to die. We don't have any good treatment for tetanus," said Bhardwaj.
Tetanus, also called "lockjaw" because it causes muscle spasms that make it hard to open your mouth, is caused by a bacterial infection.
Bhardwaj says you should get your tetanus booster, which also covers diphtheria, every 10 years. It's available for free through Alberta Health Services.
Whooping cough
The medical term for this illness is pertussis, but Bhardwaj calls it the "100-day cough."
Since January, there have been more than 500 cases of whooping cough reported in Alberta and large outbreaks of the bacterial disease were reported in California and Washington State in 2014.
Pertussis poses a serious risk to newborns, young children and people going through cancer treatment, so Bhardwaj says adults in contact with this population should definitely get a booster.
Pneumococcal vaccine
Bhardwaj says this vaccine is often called the "pneumonia vaccine," but it doesn't prevent all types of the pneumonia.
It's formulated to protect people against the streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, which causes some types of pneumonia and also meningitis, ear and sinus infections.
The vaccine is free for people 65 and older — or if you have a specific medical condition that would put you at risk for infection from this type of bacteria.
Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Bhardwaj says a vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer is a "no brainer" for him.
The HPV vaccine is available to boys and girls in Alberta public schools, but also adults up to 26 years old.
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Shingles
This vaccine is "not perfect," says Bhardwaj.
He says if you got chickenpox as a child, you have about a 30 per cent chance of developing shingles sometime in your life.
But if you get the vaccine, which costs between $100 and $150 in Alberta, your risk drops to about 15 per cent.