Vaccines for people with HIV

Vaccines are very important to help stop illness. There are many vaccines.  Some shots are for children, while other shots are for adults. HIV is a condition that leads to a weak immune system. For people with HIV, it becomes even more important to use vaccines to protect against illness. We will talk about which vaccines are good for people who have HIV. The main source on vaccines in the United States comes from the CDC. The CDC or Center for Disease Control and Prevention also lists what vaccines are good for many other types of conditions.

Some may worry that vaccines have chemicals in them, or cause harmful effects. One example is mercury, which is a toxic metal in large enough amounts. Some shots used to contain a very tiny amount of mercury, but not enough to cause harm. Today in Missouri there are no shots with mercury. There are some side effects from shots. They include redness, pain, and swelling at the part where the shot was given. Some shots like the Shingles shot can cause a fever that lasts a day or so.

You may even have most of these shots already! The shots that are good for people with HIV to get are listed here:

• The yearly flu shot – To lower the risk of getting the yearly flu
• Hepatitis B – To stop hepatitis B
• Pneumonia – To stop pneumonia
• Meningitis – To stop meningitis
• Tdap – To help against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. A booster is given every 10 years for this shot.
• HPV – For people under the age of 26 to be safe from human papillomavirus
• MMR* – For Measles, Mumps, and Rubella
• Varicella* – To help against Chicken pox and Shingles

Certain shots can be dangerous to some people with HIV. There is a test doctors will look at your blood to find a value they call CD4. If your most recent CD4 was below 200, the MMR and Varicella shots are not recommended.

Why do these shots matter? If a person gets sick, they are at a bigger risk of another illness. For people with HIV, this risk is even bigger. Another problem is that with a weak immune system, the body cannot heal from being sick as fast. By stopping the illness from ever happening, there is less chance of a serious illness.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about what is recommended for you.

-APPE Student Class of 2021