"Because of medical advances, there are now some vaccines aimed at adults that we ought to think about," says William Schaffner, M.D, past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and chair of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Depending on your immunization history, age, health status and lifestyle, you and your doctor may decide that vaccines for these diseases and infections make sense for you.

Chicken pox: Highly contagious viral infection that causes rash and fever. Most people born before 1980 caught the disease as kids and are already immune.

Hepatitis A: Contagious liver disease spread by poor hygiene can become chronic.

Hepatitis B: Sexually transmitted, can become chronic and lead to liver disease and cancer.

Hib (Haemophilus Influenzae Type b): Contagious bacterial infection that can cause blindness, retardation and death in preschoolers. If you catch Hib as an adult, you're unlikely to become seriously ill, but you can easily pass the infection to a child. People over age 2 who have survived a Hib infection are considered immune.

Pneumococcal pneumonia: Potentially fatal bacterial disease of the lungs that can also attack the brain. Other bacteria and viruses can cause pneumonia, but pneumococcal infections are especially dangerous.

Meningitis: Potentially fatal bacterial infection of the brain and spine that can lead to amputations and brain damage.

Rotavirus: Intestinal virus that can cause severe diarrhea in infants.

Herpes zoster: "Shingles," a reactivation of the chicken pox virus. Causes painful skin blisters.

HPV: Human papilloma virus; different strains cause genital warts or cervical cancer. The Food and Drug Administration licensed the HPV vaccine for females age 11-26 – the age group studied by the manufacturer.

"If a woman is 32, newly divorced and back on the dating scene, she might want to get that vaccine, so she won't pick up that virus," Dr. Schaffner says.

But some insurance companies may not pay for vaccinating a woman over age 26 because it would be considered an "off-label" use, he says.