IMMUNIZATION: A PREVENTIVE CARE APPROACH

Vaccines, asymptomatic disease screening and lifestyle recommendations are among the preventive health interventions.These services are advised depending on personal aspects like gender, age and risk factors in order to improve health and welfare.The "U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF, 2004)" advises doctors to test those with high syphilis infection risk.Asymptomatic persons not at increased risk for syphilis infection should not be routinely screened.The "United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)" reiterated in 2009 its advise for all pregnant women to get syphilis testing.Supported by the "American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP, 2009)" clinical policy statement, the USPSTF has suggested screening all pregnant women and those at increased risk for syphilis.Screening at-risk people for syphilis infection can help to lower morbidity.Preventive therapy includes lifestyle recommendations, vaccinations and asymptomatic sickness detection tests.Every decade adults should have a tetanus toxoid injection, a pneumonia and pneumococcal immunization, an annual influenza booster and a herpes zoster vaccination (regardless of past infection).To help doctors make tailored patient decisions, the United States Preventive Services Task Force has developed an easily navigable website (http://epss.ahrq.gov/ePSS/search.jsp).Considerations of the patient's age, gender, smoking history and present sexual activity, Younger old people should be screened for blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, alcohol abuse, colorectal cancer, osteoporosis and breast cancer in addition to receiving suitable counseling and treatment should these diseases be found.In this group, aspirin might be advised to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.Any further advice will depend on the risk factors connected to the patient.Reduced life expectancy and increasing comorbidities call for less preventative actions for elderly people.The elderly should so avoid some preventive actions, like cancer screenings or aspirin intake to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.Without proof on preventative care, it is imperative to provide recommendations for every patient depending on their own priorities, values and beliefs.