Vaccines don’t just shield you from specific infectious diseases or help make symptoms less severe if you get sick but can also prevent common chronic illnesses, including some cancers, according to public health experts.
“We now have a more full understanding of how these vaccines go beyond just protecting us against the disease that they helped prevent,” said Richard Martinello, chief medical officer and infectious diseases physician at Yale School of Medicine.
In addition to cancer, a growing body of research has shown that vaccines can reduce the risk of developing dementia and heart conditions. Vaccines can also help people with existing chronic conditions avoid getting sicker.
Here are the common vaccines experts recommend.
HPV
The shots that protect against human papillomavirus are widely known as a cancer prevention vaccine for women and men.
HPV, a common infection spread by skin-to-skin contact often through sex, is responsible for most cervical cancers and can also cause a large proportion of other lower genital cancers, and certain head and neck cancers.
Studies have shown that since the introduction of the vaccine about two decades ago, rates of HPV infection, early signs of precancer and cervical cancer have fallen. A 2024 study of almost 3.5 million people found fewer cases of HPV-related cancers in people who were immunized. Another study found that cervical cancer deaths among women younger than 25 dropped more than 60 percent in recent years, with researchers saying the significant decline was probably the result of vaccinations.
The HPV vaccine should be given to all young people between the ages of 9 and 26, said Robert Hopkins, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. The vaccine can be given to people up to age 45 but is less effective the older you are, Hopkins said.
For most people younger than 15, two doses of the vaccine are recommended. Three shots should be given for people between 15-to-26-years-old and those who are immunocompromised.
Shingles
Being vaccinated against shingles is linked to lower risk of dementia and heart disease.
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. Even after recovering from chicken pox, the virus doesn’t leave your body and instead lies dormant in your nervous system. In some people, it can reactivate, resulting in a painful rash. It’s estimated that 1 million people each year get shingles in the United States. Among certain people, shingles can also sometimes cause lifelong chronic pain conditions or other serious complications, such as vision loss.
The shingles vaccine has been shown to be 97 percent effective in preventing shingles in adults 50-to-69-years-old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Multiple large-scale studies have reported a connection between the shingles vaccine and reduced risk of dementia. In one study of more than 280,000 adults in Wales, researchers found that the vaccine lowered the chances of developing dementia by 20 percent over a seven-year period.
Some research also suggests the vaccine could reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, such as stroke, heart failure and coronary artery disease. A study of more than 1 million people in South Korea aged 50 or older found that those who received a shingles vaccine had a 23 percent lower risk of heart problems.
The CDC recommendstwo doses of a shingles vaccine for adults 50 and older or people 19 and older with weakened immune systems. The chicken pox vaccine for children can help prevent shingles when they’re older.
Hepatitis B
The hepatitis B virus is a leading risk factor for liver disease and cancer later in life. The virus — which passes from person to person through blood, semen or other bodily fluids — can be contracted through sexual contact, needles and during childbirth.
Acute hepatitis B can be a short-term illness that happens within the first six months of exposure to the virus. In these cases, some people have no symptoms or only mild sickness. But the illness, a liver infection, can also become a lifelong chronic condition that if left untreated could lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The vaccine is currently recommended by the CDC for all infants to receive at birth with the series of shots to be completed in the first 15 months of life.
It is one of the childhood vaccine recommendations that has been publicly questioned by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In September, federal vaccine advisers handpicked by Kennedy were poised to change the guidance for hepatitis B vaccinations, moving to delay shots until most infants are 1 month old. The panel later tabled the vote.
Meanwhile, many infectious-disease specialists and vaccine experts continue to support the long-standing recommendation, which has been in place for more than 30 years.
“In vaccinating newborns, that has been the most effective way to ensure everyone’s vaccinated and to protect the population against not only this virus, but then you have the cancer that could develop many years later,” Martinello said.
If you weren’t immunized in early childhood, you should get the vaccine as a teen or adult.
Flu, coronavirus and RSV
Vaccines that help prevent infections from respiratory viruses are important to protect against serious disease as well as flare-ups or worsening of existing chronic health conditions, public health experts say.
Getting a flu vaccine “is extremely important in individuals that have chronic conditions,” said Tina Tan, immediate past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “If they get flu, it can exacerbate those conditions and cause further complications.”
A 2020 study found higher rates of severe flu infections among adults with certain chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes and kidney disease.
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get an annual flu shot.
People with chronic conditions should also get vaccines for the coronavirus and RSV, Hopkins said.
One studyof 46 million adults in England observed that the incidence of heart attacks and strokes dropped after people received coronavirus vaccinations. The vaccines have been linked to a risk of myocarditis and pericarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and lining, but cases are rare and generally mild. Many experts also say the benefits of vaccination, which include preventing severe infections that people with chronic conditions are more susceptible to developing, outweigh the risk of side effects.
People can get the coronavirus shots regardless of age or health conditions, but the CDC now recommends consulting a clinician first.
RSV can wreak havoc among children and elderly people. Immunization against it is recommended for babies, pregnant women to protect their babies, adults age 50 to 74 with chronic health conditions and all adults 75 and older, Hopkins said.
Bacterial vaccines
Bacterial infections such as meningitis and pneumonia can also lead to chronic disabilities or death, Hopkins said.
Meningitis complications can be serious. The longer a person has the infection and doesn’t get treatment, the greater the risk of hearing loss, vision troubles, memory issues, learning disabilities, brain damage, seizures and kidney failure, among other problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Pneumonia can have long-term effects such as depression as well as worsening of heart and blood vessel diseases. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute notes that the disease could cause kidney, liver and heart damage because the organs aren’t getting enough oxygen to work properly or as a result of the immune system responding negatively to the infection.
Bacterial meningitis and pneumonia can both lead to sepsis. While people with sepsis who receive prompt treatment can recover completely, others might experience long-term effects including insomnia, nightmares or hallucinations, panic attacks, joint and muscle pain, decreased cognitive functioning and organ failure, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The meningococcal vaccine, which the CDC recommends for all preteens and teens as well as children and adults who are at increased risk, protects against the disease that causes meningitis. Children younger than 5 years old and adults 50 or older should receive the pneumococcal vaccine that helps prevent pneumonia as well as other infections including meningitis and sepsis. Vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b can also protect people from meningitis and pneumonia.
“Vaccines offer important protection to those who receive them, and some also help safeguard others in the community who remain unvaccinated,” Hopkins said. “Because many people haven’t witnessed the devastation once caused by diseases that are now vaccine-preventable, it’s easy to underestimate the risks of not getting vaccinated.”
The post The common vaccines that can prevent chronic disease or some cancers appeared first on Washington Post.
