GET PRETEENS & TEENS VACCINATED: August is the time to get HPV, Quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate, Tdap & flu vaccines for preteens & teens. Photo: Courtesy of NPHIC
August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), a time to shine a light on the importance of vaccination for everyone from infants and children to preteens, teens, pregnant women and adults as summer winds down and kids and young adults prepare for returning to school.
In this month-long series, the UMHS Endeavour looks at the importance of National Immunization Awareness Month and what the public and students at American and Caribbean medical schools should know. We will include a short weekly feature targeting each population segment in need of vaccination because there is so much misinformation out there, but vaccines save lives and help people avoid preventable diseases.
Every August, NIAM draws attention to getting vaccinated against infectious diseases in coordination with the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For our first installment, the UMHS Endeavour looks at vaccination for preteens and teens.
The UMHS Endeavour looks at information about immunizations based on materials from the CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niam.html
Vaccinations for Preteens & Teens
Vaccinations are necessary for preteens (ages 11 to 12) and also teenagers.
As the NPHIC website says, “Teens may also need a booster dose of one of the shots or get any shots they may have missed. You can use any health care visit, including sports or camp physicals, checkups or some sick visits, to get the shots your kids need.”
Here are the four most preteens need and ones for which teens may require a booster.
Quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine, which protects against four types of meningococcal disease. Meningococcal disease is caused by bacteria and is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis – a serious infection around the brain and spinal cord – in teens and young adults.
HPV vaccine, which protects against the types of HPV that most commonly cause cancer. HPV can cause future cancers of the cervix, vulva and vagina in women and cancers of the penis in men. In both women and men, HPV also causes mouth/throat (oropharyngeal) cancer, anal cancer and genital warts.
Tdap vaccine, which is a booster shot against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Pertussis (whooping cough) can keep kids out of school and activities for weeks. It can also be spread to babies who are too young to be vaccinated, and this disease can be very dangerous and sometimes deadly for babies.
Influenza (flu) vaccine, because even healthy kids can get the flu, and it can be serious. All kids, including your preteens and teens, should get the flu vaccine every year. Parents should also get vaccinated to protect themselves and to help protect their children.
Get a Toolkit to Help Raise Awareness
The National Immunization Awareness Month Communication Toolkit was developed by NPHIC, in collaboration with CDC, to help you communicate the importance of vaccination throughout the lifespan.
Next week, the UMHS Endeavour looks at immunization for pregnant women.
(Top photo) Photo: Courtesy of NPHIC
About UMHS:
Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciencesfocuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, “personalized medical education,” and it’s what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada. UMHS is challenging everything you thought you knew about Caribbean medical schools.
Scott is Director of Digital Content & Alumni Communications Liaison at UMHS and editor of the UMHS Endeavour blog. When he's not writing about UMHS students, faculty, events, public health, alumni and UMHS research, he writes and edits Broadway theater reviews for a website he publishes in New York City, StageZine.com.
