Vaccines for Adults

Some adults incorrectly assume that the vaccines they received as children will protect them for the rest of their lives. Generally this is true, except that:

• Some adults were never vaccinated as children.
• Scientific discoveries are always being made, bringing vaccines into our lives that were not around during our childhood.
• The immunity provided by some of the vaccines received in childhood begins to fade over time.
• Adults become more susceptible to serious disease caused by common infections as they age (for example, influenza and pneumococcus).