Many older adults need pneumonia shot

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- More than 30 percent of U.S. adults ages 65 and older had not been immunized against pneumonia in 36 states as of 2008, researchers found.

The report by the Trust for America's Health, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said nationally, 33.1 percent of seniors had not been immunized against pneumonia.

Oregon, the state with the highest immunization rate, has 27 percent of seniors not immunized, while Washington, D.C., had the lowest number of seniors immunized, with 45.6 percent of seniors not immunized for pneumonia.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all seniors should be vaccinated against pneumonia, which is a one-time shot for most individuals, since seniors who get the seasonal flu are at risk for developing pneumonia as a complication.

In addition to low rates of pneumonia immunizations, the report found only 2.1 percent of eligible adults had the tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough vaccine in the previous two years; 10 percent of eligible adult women have had the human papillomavirus vaccine; and 36.1 percent of all adults were vaccinated against the seasonal flu in 2008.

The report is at the Web sites: healthyamericans.org, idsociety.org and www.rwjf.org.