The public and many health care providers may not realize that more Americans die of influenza and pneumococcal disease than either breast cancer or AIDS each year.

They may not know that the hepatitis B virus is 100 times more infectious than the virus that causes AIDS, or that the hepatitis B virus infects 100,000-140,000 Americans annually.

Immunizations are readily available for such common adult illness as influenza (flu), pneumococcal disease and hepatitis B. Vaccinations against measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), hepatitis A, and chickenpox (varicella) are also needed by some adults. All adults should have a tetanus-diphtheria (Td) booster every ten years.

The Georgia Immunization Program is launching a public education and awareness program, "Word to the Wise: Immunize," to coincide with National Adult Immunization Awareness Week, Oct. 11 - 17. The primary goal of the program is to increase the awareness in Georgia of the need to vaccinate the adult population just as much as children.

Each year in the United States, as many as 50,000 to 70,000 adults die needlessly from vaccine-preventable diseases or their complications even though vaccines are readily accessible through private health plans, government and subsidized vaccination programs funded by pharmaceutical companies.

Vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective and provide the best protection against infectious disease. Money can be saved, the quality of life improved and the mortality rate from these diseases lowered by a simple approach to medicine immunizations. Please support this statewide effort... and encourage your readers to get their immunizations up-to-date.