Docs tell adults: Get vaccinated

Now that you’re grown up, are you still afraid of needles?

Doctors called yesterday for all Filipino adults to have themselves vaccinated, particularly against influenza and hepatitis B.

"We encourage people, especially adults, to get vaccinated to prevent diseases which have high mortality and morbidity (rates)," said infectious disease expert Dr. Remedios Coronel at a press conference that was part of efforts to boost the adult vaccination campaign of drug firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Coronel said it is not enough to take vitamins and other supplements to keep healthy and that people do not die of the diseases themselves, "but from the complications."

In a statement, GSK borrowed a quote from the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Vaccines aren’t just for kids. Far too many adults become ill, are disabled, and die each year from diseases that could easily have been prevented by vaccines... Everyone, from young adults to senior citizens, can benefit from immunizations," the statement read.

Pediatrician Dr. Lulu Bravo said the second leading cause of death in the country is pneumonia, which is responsible for most of the deaths associated with flu.

"More people die of flu every year than any other vaccine-preventable disease," she said. "Fifty to 70 percent of pneumonia can be prevented by vaccines, specially among adults."

Statistics from the Department of Health (DOH) indicate that influenza is the fourth leading cause of morbidity in the Philippines.

Coronel said the influenza vaccine should be given once a year to persons at increased risk for complications should they be infected: those above 50 years old; adults with chronic illnesses; those with lowered immunity; residents of nursing homes and chronic care facilities; and pregnant women in the second or third trimester who have not had a flu shot in the last 12 months.

More than 80 percent of influenza-related deaths occur in those over 65 years old.

The influenza vaccine should also be given to people who can transmit influenza to those at high risk, such as health care workers and caregivers.

Coronel said schoolchildren should also be inoculated against influenza, since one sick child can transmit the disease to other children and the households where they live.

Bravo also said while there is a law mandating the vaccination of infants against hepatitis B at birth, the cash-strapped government cannot fund the free vaccination for infants, much less for adults.

"Sad to say, the DOH has eyes only for the child," she said. "Vaccination is the most cost-effective measure for prevention."

Coronel said the failure to vaccinate infants at birth could also be due to ignorance on the part of the mother and the pediatrician.

This has resulted in eight to 10 percent of Filipinos being chronic carriers of the hepatitis B virus. These carriers have a 10 to 20 percent chance of developing liver cancer or cirrhosis — a painful, incurable condition in which liver tissue is slowly destroyed.