Two campaigns—one national and one local—are emphasizing the importance of immunizing adolescents against serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases such as meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough and cervical cancer. Both provide information regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest vaccination recommendations for 11- and 12-year olds, which include vaccinating this age group with:
- MCV4 to protect against meningitis and its complications
- Tdap as a booster against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis
- For girls, HPV vaccine to protect against the types of human papillomavirus that most commonly cause cervical cancer
In addition, the CDC now recommends all children 6 months to 18 years old receive an influenza vaccination each year.
The CDC’s national Preteen Vaccine campaign is designed for use by parents, caregivers, family physicians and pediatricians. Its Web site— www.cdc.gov/vaccines/spec-grps/preteens-adol/07gallery/default.htm —provides easy-to-understand, downloadable educational materials in English and Spanish for parents and health care providers about the vaccines and the diseases they prevent. Among these are posters and flyers geared toward parents and caregivers that explain HPV and the HPV vaccine and pre-teen vaccines.
Locally, the Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition has developed a Web site targeting adolescents and teens as part of the Missouri Adolescent Immunization Outreach Initiative. The site—www.startwithfour.org —was developed by teens to help educate their peers generally about immunizations and the four vaccinations they need as teens and why. In addition, it provides a listing of organizations and clinics teens may visit to receive vaccinations in case they do not have a family physician.