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Ninety Percent Of Children Are Two Have Been Immunized

Published Wednesday, July 2, 1997 in the Nevada County Picayune

Dr. Sandra B. Nichols, Director

Arkansas Department of Health

As of late June, 45 counties in Arkansas had reached the statewide goal of having at least 90 percent of two-year-old children properly immunized. I am proud of the progress being made to protect our children from vaccine-preventable diseases, however, children are not the only ones who need immunizations. Many adults need them too.

While fewer than 500 children die each year in the United States as a result of diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that each year, up to 60,000 adults die of preventable infectious diseases.

The most deadly of these is pneumococcol infection. It causes an estimated 3,000 cases of meningitis (infection of the brain and spinal cord), 50,000 cases of bacteremia (infection of the blood) and 500,000 cases of pneumonia (infection of the lungs.

Fatalities are highest among those with bacteremia and meningitis. Pneumococcal disease causes the death of 40,000 Americans each year, most of them age 65 or older. It is the leading cause of vaccine-jpreventable deaths, according to Robert Breiman, M.D., Director of CDC's National Vaccine Program Office. To make this situatin worse, researchers say strains of the drug-resistant bacteria that causes pneumoccoccal disease are becoming increasingly common in the U.S. as well as in other parts of the world. That makes prevention even more critical.

It is estimated that half of the deaths could be prevented if people 65 and older and others in high-rigk groups were given pneumococcal vaccine which protects against meningitis, bacteremia and pneumonia. Nationwide, only abaout 30 percent of people 65 and older have been immunized against pneumococcal infection. In Arkansas the figure is 27.2 percent, according to CDC surveys.

To reduce the deaths and illnesses, a CDC Advisory Committee has issued new recommendations for the use of pneumococcal vaccine for the following high risk groups:

  • persons age 65 or older;

  • persons aged two to 64 who have chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease (not asthma) diabetes, alcoholism and chronic liver disease;

  • persons aged two to 64 who are living in special environments in which there is a highter risk for severe pneumococcal disease (Alaskan Natives, certain Native American populations, residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities); and

  • persons aged two or older with HIV infection or other compromised immune systems.

    There are more than 33 million Americans who are 65 and older and more than 21 million Americans who fall into other high-risk groups. Pneumococcal vaccinations generally need to be given only once. The U.S. Public Health Service has established a national goal for the year 2000, aiming for pneumococcal vaccination of at least 60 percent of Americans aged 65 or older. Although the vaccine is not administered by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), Medicare recipients can receive it at no cost from their primary care physician.

    Influenza is associated with about 20,000 deaths nationwide and manymore hospitalizations. Anyone can get the flu, but it is particularly hard on older victims. "Pneumonia and the flu were the fifth leading cause of death among Arkansans 65 years of age or older in 1995. Because different strains of the flu can emerge each year, and because protection declines within a year after vaccination, flu shots should be scheduled each fall with your local health unit or your primary care physician," says Jerry Cox, immunization nursing coordinator, ADH.

    Over 300,000 Americans suffer liver infections caused by the hepatitis B virus each year. More than 100,000 require hospitalization. An estimated 4,000 hepatitis B-related deaths occur each year. The hepatitis B vaccine is routinely administrated to infants and children. Adults should talk to their primary care physician to determine if they fall into one of the high-risk groups who should be vaccinated.

    Although uncommon, tetanus can cause a serious infectin in a wound. Nine cases have been confirmed in Arkansas, with three deaths during the past nine years. Tetanus shots, administered by the ADH and primary care physicians should be scheduled every 10 years.

    For some adults, other immunizations, such as measles and hepatitis A, are also advised. And, adults should keep records of all vaccines they have been given and when.

    For more information on adult immunizations, contact your primary care physician or the Communicable Disease/Immunization Division, ADH, at 501-661-2962.

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