Important Vaccines for People with Diabetes

The CDC advises that people with diabetes get certain vaccines. Vaccines help your body's immune system learn how to protect itself against bacteria or viruses to prevent infection. People with diabetes should get a yearly flu shot each fall. They should also get a pneumococcal vaccine. This helps protect against pneumonia.  It's also important to get a hepatitis B vaccine, which protects against an infection of the liver. Here's why it's so important for someone with diabetes to have these shots, and the best times to get them.

Flu shot

Influenza, also known as the flu, is an infection caused by a virus. The virus spreads from person to person through coughing or sneezing. Flu symptoms may include a sudden high fever, chills, body aches, sore throat, runny nose, dry cough, and headache. But people with diabetes who catch the flu may become especially sick. The illness sometimes leads to pneumonia or a dangerously high blood glucose level. In some cases, you may need a stay in the hospital.

The best way to protect yourself against the flu is by getting the flu vaccine. This vaccine doesn't provide complete protection. It makes it less likely that you will catch the flu for about the next 6 months. You need a new flu shot every year. The best time to get the flu shot is when it becomes available in your community. Then you'll be protected before flu season begins. It helps if the people you live with get flu shots, too.

Pneumonia shot

Pneumococcal disease is a bacterial illness. It can cause serious–even deadly–infections of the lungs (pneumonia), blood (bacteremia), and covering of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Having diabetes increases the risk for serious complications and death from these illnesses.

There are 2 pneumococcal vaccines. Talk with your healthcare provider about these 2 important vaccines and whether or not you need them.

Hepatitis B shots

The vaccine for hepatitis B is advised for people younger than 60. It is also suggested for those ages 60 and older. It's given in a series of 3 shots over a 6-month period. You need all 3 shots in order to be immune. If you've had some of the hepatitis B vaccine series in the past but not all 3 shots, you only need to have the remaining shots. You don't need to start over.

Talk with your healthcare provider

Before you get any of these vaccines, talk with your healthcare provider. He or she can help you get vaccines at the correct times to make sure you're fully protected. Newer vaccines, such as for shingles (herpes zoster), may also be recommended to people with diabetes at an earlier age than is usually recommended. This is especially so for those who have experienced nerve damage or neuropathy.