A vaccine against cancer, an important new use for the chicken pox vaccine, and updates on how to use existing vaccines could keep thousands of people from suffering or dying each year from preventable diseases.

“It’s been an unprecedented time for immunization,” says Gregory Poland, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic vaccine research group in Rochester, Minn. “Yet too few adults are getting vaccinated.”

Here are the vaccines to discuss with your doctor to see if they’re for you.

HPV. In June 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first vaccine for preventing cervical cancer, precancerous lesions of the vagina and vulva, and genital warts. Approved for girls and women ages 9 to 26, the vaccine prevents infection from four strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), the sexually transmitted virus responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts. Since the vaccine doesn’t confer complete protection, vaccinated women should still be screened for cervical cancer.

Shingles. In May 2006, the FDA approved Zostavax, a vaccine for preventing shingles, a blistering rash with painful nerve inflammation. The new vaccine is a stronger version of the varicella vaccine (Varivax) used to prevent chicken pox. (Both diseases are caused by the same virus.) With no single effective treatment to easily manage shingles, immunization should help many people avoid its miseries. It is recommended for those 60 years of age or older.

Flu. In February 2006, public health officials recommended for the first time that healthy children ages 2 through 5 and the people who care for them get an annual flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that if a vaccine shortage occurs, infants 6 to 23 months old should be given priority because they are at higher risk for hospitalization from influenza. Vaccinating the young could also help reduce the reservoir of disease and the risk of infection in seniors, since flu shots are only modestly effective in people over age 65, according to the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization of researchers.

Pneumonia. Pneumococcal disease kills more people in the U.S. each year than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined. The vaccine isn’t perfect, but people who are vaccinated and still develop pneumonia have fewer complications and a better chance of survival, researchers reported in the April 15, 2006, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is recommended for those age 65 and older, anyone over age 2 with weakened immunity or a chronic health problem, and natives of Alaska and certain Native Americans, who are at greater risk from the disease.

Mumps. Since the first recent cases of mumps appeared in Iowa in December 2005, more than 4,700 people have developed the infectious viral disease. Outbreaks, mostly among 18-to 24-year-olds, have appeared in at least 15 states, but now appear to be declining. No matter where you live, make sure you’ve had the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. If you don’t know your medical history, you can be vaccinated just in case. Pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems should not be vaccinated, but they should encourage anyone in regular close contact with them to do so.