Vaccines For Adults; A Review Of Recent Literature

Introduction: Vaccinations in adults and older patients are of special importance due to two main reasons: physiological and anatomical alterations in the body as it ages, making diseases more serious and possibly fatal, and so that adult individuals have a decreased immunological response when they are exposed to infections. Major adult vaccination includes influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, and hepatitis. Aim of the work: In this study, our aim was to understand the recent updates on adult immunization and their efficacy in disease prevention. Methodology: we conducted this review using a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE from January 1994 to March 2017. The following search terms were used: adult vaccination, adult immunization, influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, preventive measures, infection prevention, Conclusion: Several communicable diseases that affect the elderly population which can cause significant morbidity and mortality along with excessive costs on the health care system are easily preventable with the use of vaccination. Therefore, using vaccines to prevent these diseases should be updated and encouraged by all family health care practices.