5 Things You Should Know About Immunizations

August is a lot of things.

It's National Water Quality Month. It's Black Business Month, too. And it's Panini Month (yum), Audio Appreciation Month (what?) and National Goat Cheese Month (gross).

But, for our purposes, it's National Immunization Month. And the Sussex County Department of Public Health Services wants to keep you immune. Here are five things you need to know about immunization, courtesy of the county and the Centers for Disease Control.

1. You Need to Know a Universal Rule: People older than six months old should receive a seasonal flu shot, the CDC said.
2. You Need to Know About Young Children: Infants to age 6 should receive a series of shots to protect against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chicken pox, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia, and hepatitis B, the CDC said.
3. You Need to Know About Preteens: Preteen girls and boys should receive the HPV vaccine to protect against the most common cause of cervical cancer, genital warts and/or anal cancer in both men and women, the CDC said.
4. You Need to Know About Adults: Tetanus shots should be updated every 10 years, the CDC said. Adults age 65 and older should get a one-time pneumonia shot and adults 60 and older should receive a shot to protect against shingles, the CDC said.
5. You Need to Know About More Immunization Information: Call the Sussex County Public Health Nursing staff at (973) 579-0570, ext. 1211. Or visit sussex.nj.us/nursing.