Not Just For Tots
Three new vaccines for older kids expand protection from Disease
"Maybe 5 percent of parents in my practice don't immunize," Magalnick says of parents like Carlson; doctors elsewhere estimate refusals on the order of 1 to 2 percent. "They perceive 'side effects' like autism linked to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine or to preservatives like thimerosal, and they worry." He talks to them, reminds them that thimerosal was dropped from kids' vaccines by 2003, and cites dozens of studies showing no connection to autism (including a review by the highly regarded Cochrane Library, an independent consortium of scientists, last year). Some listen, and some don't. "Some just want to wait until their kids are a little older. I tell them I'll be there when they're ready," Magalnick says.
He will also be there, with vaccines, when kids are a lot older. Pediatricians have been pushing for years for adolescent vaccines and appointments. Teens tend to drift away once parents stop dragging them in for checkups, yet they have their own concerns about changing bodies, drugs, drinking, and sexual activity. "So it's good to get them back in to talk around ages 11 or 12," says Brown, who is president of the Society for Adolescent Health.
And that turns out to be a good time to vaccinate. Whooping cough, for instance, is resurgent in teenagers and highly contagious. While not serious at that age, teens take the germs home to baby brothers and sisters, who often have to be hospitalized with the racking spasms. And this year's newly approved cervical cancer vaccine targets the cancer's cause, human papilloma virus, which is a sexually transmitted infection. The goal is to get girls immunized before they become sexually active.
As for meningitis and other diseases caused by the same bacteria, there may be only 2,500 cases a year, but 300 people die and an additional 400 have permanent disabilities. Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer, says there should be enough Menactra for all by late fall. But for now, it's purely a rite of college entrance.
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