My last vaccination was when I was 8 in Germany. There was noone in my teenage years. I’m now 28. I’m male. To what extend is it worthwhile for me to go to a doctor now for vaccination?
That depends what vaccines you got as a child. In the States, the HPV and MVC4 vaccines are normally given after age eight, along with tetanus booster shots every decade or so, but I have no idea how Europeans do it.
It’s something to ask a real doctor, but I do think it’d be worth asking—assuming a similar schedule, there’s a good chance you missed a couple of shots, and you’re certainly due for a tetanus booster.
“Worthwhile” implies cost-benefit analysis. What’s the cost to you? In the U.S., if you have health insurance, vaccinations are typically covered. So the cost is pretty much an hour or so of your time and some minor discomfort.
Ah, I misunderstood — you wrote “when I was 8 in Germany” so I took that to mean that you weren’t in Germany any more, so I fell back to the prior probability. Anyway, go see a doctor. :)
This question makes no sense for vaccination “in general”—each vaccination against a specific disease is its own separate decision driven, I guess, by how likely do you think you’ll find yourself exposed to these specific pathogens.
My last vaccination was when I was 8 in Germany. There was noone in my teenage years. I’m now 28. I’m male. To what extend is it worthwhile for me to go to a doctor now for vaccination?
That depends what vaccines you got as a child. In the States, the HPV and MVC4 vaccines are normally given after age eight, along with tetanus booster shots every decade or so, but I have no idea how Europeans do it.
It’s something to ask a real doctor, but I do think it’d be worth asking—assuming a similar schedule, there’s a good chance you missed a couple of shots, and you’re certainly due for a tetanus booster.
My understanding is that the US schedule is much more aggressive than the European one.
HPV vaccination is important, especially as men are the carrier-transmitters.
“Worthwhile” implies cost-benefit analysis. What’s the cost to you? In the U.S., if you have health insurance, vaccinations are typically covered. So the cost is pretty much an hour or so of your time and some minor discomfort.
I live in Germany, so I do have health insurance.
Ah, I misunderstood — you wrote “when I was 8 in Germany” so I took that to mean that you weren’t in Germany any more, so I fell back to the prior probability. Anyway, go see a doctor. :)
I wrote that to point out that I do have the kind of vaccinations that German people usually have at age 8.
This question makes no sense for vaccination “in general”—each vaccination against a specific disease is its own separate decision driven, I guess, by how likely do you think you’ll find yourself exposed to these specific pathogens.