Opinion: Life-course vaccination can protect adults from infectious disease

Vaccines are an essential part of the care of babies and children, offering protection from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pneumonia, and polio, diseases that once harmed or killed thousands of U.S. children every year and that still kill thousands around the world. Sometimes forgotten is that adults can also benefit from vaccines. To prevent unnecessary deaths and improve public health, the U.S. and other countries need to take more seriously the concept of life-course vaccination, an approach to ensure that immunization programs are effectively implemented for people at all ages and stages of life.

In the 2017-2018 influenza season, only in the U.S. were vaccinated against the flu, a from the previous season, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccination as the best approach to avoiding infection. Influenza goes.