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More Adults Are Taking A Pass On Vaccinations, Officials Report

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The Associated Press

Published: January 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - Vaccines aren't just for children, but far too few adults are rolling up their sleeves, disappointed federal health officials reported Wednesday.

The numbers of newly vaccinated people are surprisingly low, considering how much public attention a trio of new shots protecting against shingles, whooping cough and cervical cancer have 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.

The new CDC report found:

•Only about 2 percent of Americans 60 and older received a vaccine against shingles in its first year of sales. Yet there are more than 1 million new cases of shingles, an excruciating rite of aging, each year.

•About 2 percent of adults ages 18 to 64 got a booster shot against whooping cough in the two years since it hit the market.

•About 10 percent of women ages 18 to 26 have received at least one dose of a three-shot series that protects against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that causes cervical cancer.

Price has to be a reason: A shingles shot is about $150. The three-shot HPV vaccine is about $300. Insurance coverage varies. There's no national program to guarantee access for adults who cannot afford vaccines as there is for child vaccines.

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