Too Few U.S. Adults Getting Needed Vaccinations

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And, vaccination rates for influenza and pneumococcal disease (pneumonia) among the elderly are stuck at around 60 percent, well below the target rate of 90 percent.

Also troubling, according to a survey sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, is that "most adults don't know much about vaccines available to protect them," said Dr. Kristin L. Nichol, chief of medicine at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and a professor of medicine and vice chair of the University of Minnesota's Department of Medicine.

Nichol said the survey also revealed that many adults aren't sufficiently concerned about these vaccine-preventable diseases. For example, 30 percent of those surveyed weren't worried about getting the flu, which kills an estimated 36,000 Americans each year.

Only 3 percent to 18 percent of those surveyed could name each of the other vaccines available for adults, Nichol said. "Only one in 10 knew there was a hepatitis vaccine, only one in 20 knew about the shingles vaccine," she said.

Nichol thinks doctors should be more proactive in recommending vaccines to their patients, since most people said they would get a vaccine if their physician recommended it.

One obstacle to getting more adults vaccinated is cost. The shingles vaccine costs around $150, and the three-shot HPV vaccine about $300.

Yet another report released this week -- the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health -- found flu vaccination rates among young children lower than expected across the country. The December poll found that in households with children 5 years of age and younger, only 36 percent of the youngsters had been vaccinated.

More information

To learn more about adult vaccinations, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.