The shingles discussion got me worried. If you were 60 and never had a vaccine of any sort since early childhood (and no access to records to confirm any of that), which would you get at this stage? Shingles, flu, any other? Can you get them all the same day or week?
I am in my mid 60’s and I received a dpt vaccine last year. The commercial with the Big Bad Wolf and pertussis made me want to make sure I was up to date with all of them.
Pertussis (and tetanus) in the TdaP, Shingles, Pneumonia and Flu
My vaccines have always been current because I go for an annual physical every year. DH?..um…no.
What triggered DH’s updated vaccines was a trip to a third world country…where all vaccines needed to be currently noted on the yellow card we carried with our passports. Mine were fine (there were a couple I needed because they are on,y needed for this particular type of travel) but DH needed to get a current DPT, flu shot, Hep A and B, and he had to have a titer done to verify immunity for measles. In addition, we both needed an additional polio shot, and typhoid for this trip.
We both get annual flu and pneumonia, and got shingles at age 60 as well.
Anything that has multi shots in the series will need to be done on different days. DH had to do repeat trips for his the hep a and b series.
If it were me, I would be guided by my doctor’s advice.
Last year, my doc told me I couldn’t have the shingles shot at the same time as the flu shot and she asked me which I’d rather have that day. It was early in the flu season, so I chose shingles and went back six weeks later for flu.
We also discussed pneumonia, but she said that since I was healthy, I could wait until 65 for that.
Well…yes! Schedule an appointment for a physical,with your doctor. When you call for the appointment, make sure you tell them you want to have all appropriate updated immunizations. The doctor will guide you.
Thanks, but one doctor is one opinion, I think CC provides a lot of additional perspective. Also, I may do some of them on a walk in basis to Walgreens or similar on a visit to US next month. I had a recent complete check up with a top hospital in Singapore, and am apparently in perfect working order …
My vaccines are current due to foreign travel also. I wanted to get pneumonia because of frequent traveling with 15+ hour flights and accompanying disruption to the system, but I’m under 65 with no risk factors. So my MD said I had to wait. I keep seeing all those pneumococcal pneumonia advertisements - they have me convinced that it wouldn’t be a bad thing. I wonder what others are hearing about pneumonia vaccines from their live MDs, not from vaccine manufacturers???
What is the difference? Does one doctor think you need no shots, and the other thinks you need a lot?
At age 60, I had a current DPT shot…but mine were always current, flu, shingles.
When my husband, who had no immunization records either, went, he had flu, shingles, DPT, and a titer to show whether he was immune for measles, chicken pox and mumps. He wanted those for the record. And needed them for this trip we took.
As an FYI, my son needed to show evidence of immunizations for a job. If he had not had them, he would have needed to get them. It was very hard to get his most recent immunization record because his doctors office burnt to the ground…no computerized medical records. He had to get a few shots again.
Whatever you do, keep written documentation of the immunizations you get especially of you get them in multiple places.
Talk to your doctor but in general:
Shingles, flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, pertussis, and the big one that many people don’t focus on: whooping cough, This is a big one especially if you’re around little ones of any kind.
^^ Some years, I get my flu shot at CVS. I always send a copy to my doc afterward, so that she also has a record.
Some vaccines require multiple shots to be effective. Hep B is an example.
Yes, really, doctors’ advice is not at all consistent (or necessarily logical). I prefer to be armed with information in advance.
I’m kind of surprised you don’t have to have some vaccines in order to travel.
@sorghum Medicine is as much art as science, and as much as we’d like to believe that there’s a single right answer to our questions, often there isn’t. You can find medical opinion to support just about anything. For me, the answer is to find doctors I trust, inform myself and ask questions, and then be guided by their advice. They are the ones with the MD after their names, not me. To second-guess everything they tell me would only drive me crazy.
I believe the pertussis vaccine is the whooping cough vaccine.
I just had my physical and my doctor checked my shot record. He suggested I get my flu shot but not one for pneumonia as I’m under 65 with no health issues.
Ha, you are correct. Pertussis was supposed to be tetanus in my post. I was think of the tdap shot. 
The tetanus shot is an important one to keep current. But to be fair…if you ever have some big cut or something…and go to the doctor or ER, they will give you the shot anyway.
Funny, I travel on average once a month, to maybe 50 countries over the past 25 years, and I have never, not even once, been asked for any vaccination record. I have also never been asked for any prescription for any drugs I may have with me.