If you are dealing with a chronic illness, being vaccinated against other diseases becomes much more important.
SAN ANTONIO — We are in the middle of the winter respiratory virus season. And for those people living with chronic conditions with weakened immune systems, coming down with an illness that others can shake off, could mean the risk of serious injury or death is significantly higher.
Many illnesses that we deal with throughout our lifetime can be kept away with vaccines. And for those who already have a lifelong medical condition, being up to date on yearly vaccines is a must to stay as healthy as possible. Dr. Sarah Nosal, the President of the American Academy of Family Physicians told us, “With vaccination, something that could be a life threatening. complication, in fact, will just be a mild illness that you’ll be able to get over.”
Several of the chronic conditions result in an increase risk for severe illness include diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease, and asthma. Those are just a few of the illnesses that need to be kept at bay with both antiviral treatments and vaccines. Dr. Nosal added,”We know that immunity works best when it’s our community of immunity. So you may be getting a vaccine to protect yourself, but you’re also getting that vaccine to care about, to care about and protect the people that you love.”
To help prevent complications due to asthma, COPD, and other lung conditions the CDC recconments getting the flu vaccine, Tdap vaccine, RSV vaccine, shingles vaccine, pneeumococcal vaccines, and the COVID-19 vaccine. Doctors say vaccines aren’t just effective, but safe. Dr. Nosal said, “We’re really using that information about your age, your health status, and sometimes even the time of year, combined with your risk factors to determine which of these vaccines would be recommended and appropriate for you.”