SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! FOR EVERYBODY!

Are you up to date on your vaccines? Our handy guide will let you know

- Beth Weinhouse

WHAT WAS THE most important medical discovery of all time? Was it antibiotics, which gave doctors a way to fight deadly infections? What about medical imaging such as X-rays and CAT scans, which allow doctors to look inside the human body to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions? Both of these innovations, of course, have saved many lives. But there’s one that leaves them in the dust. According to the World Health Organization, vaccines have saved more human lives—154 million, including 101 million infants, in the last 50  years alone—than any other medical invention in history.

The first successful human vaccine was the smallpox vaccine, developed in 1796. Smallpox used to kill millions of people each year, and the vaccine has saved many millions of lives. We no longer need a smallpox vaccine, because that disease was successfully eradicated, thanks to the vaccine. So far, smallpox is the only infectious human disease we’ve succeeded in making disappear completely. There are still plenty of viruses and bacteria circulating that are a threat to our health, but fortu­ nately we have vaccines that can protect against many of them.

This year, as you think about getting a flu vaccine (do it!), also think about whether there are other vaccines that you should consider getting to keep yourself healthy. Many people follow the recommended vaccine schedule through childhood, but then stop keep­ ing up with boosters and new vaccines once they’re adults.