Vaccines for teens : protect their future

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Human papillomavirus can cause cervical cancer in females and other forms of cancer or genital warts in both females and males.
How Does it Spread? HPV is spread through sexual intercourse or sexual contact. Most people show no symptoms of infection.
Did you know? Each year in the United States about 6.2 million people get a new HPV infection.7 Eighty percent of sexually active women will have acquired genital HPV by age 50.7 The HPV vaccine is close to 100 percent effective. This vaccine is one of the few ways to prevent a type of cancer.
Take Action It is recommended that females ages 11 and 12 receive three doses of HPV vaccine. The vaccination series can be started as young as age 9.
Resources
Visit www.choa.org/immunization to download a pdf of this brochure or to order additional copies.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine quiz: www2.cdc.gov/nip/adultImmSched/
Childhood Immunization Support Program: www.cispimmunize.org
Immunization Action Coalition's vaccine safety information: www.vaccineinformation.org/safety.asp

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recommend specific vaccines for adolescents* to protect them against infections that can cause severe illnesses or even death.
Certain medical conditions, group living arrangements, sports participation and highrisk behaviors put adolescents at greater risk for these infections.
New shots may have been added to the immunization schedule since your adolescent started school. You should check on your child's immunization status:
Before the start of middle and high school
Before college (or around the time he would start college)
As a parent, immunizing yourself protects you, your children and the older members of your family. If you provide a good example for your adolescent, he will learn to handle his own medical care.
Proof of immunization will be required for entry into school (including college), work, international travel or in the event of an accident.
Take your adolescent's immunization record to each doctor's visit and on any trips to the emergency room. Be sure to ask about the Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services (GRITS), which collects immunization information.
* For the purpose of this brochure, the term "adolescent" refers to those who are between the ages of 11 and 21.

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Vaccines for Teens Protect Their Future
Immunizations help keep adolescents healthy.

Vaccines for Teens Protect Their Future**
Hepatitis B Hepatitis B can cause liver damage, cancer or death.
How Does it Spread? This viral infection spreads from person to person through contact with infected blood. This can happen through sexual contact or by sharing needles used for body piercing, tattoos or drug use. Hepatitis B can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby at birth. A person may show no symptoms and pass hepatitis B to others without knowing it.
Take Action A series of three shots or proof of immunity is required for all students attending schools or childcare facilitiesin Georgia. Some students need the hepatitis B vaccine to attend college in Georgia.
Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) Measles causes a high fever and rash. It also can cause middle ear infections, swelling of the brain and pneumonia.
Mumps causes painful swelling of the cheeks and jaws. It can cause swelling of the brain or spinal cord membrane.
Rubella (German measles) causes swollen glands and a red rash. In pregnant women, it can harm the unborn baby.
How Does it Spread? Measles, mumps and rubella are all spread through close contact with infected people and through coughing or sneezing.
Take Action Two measles vaccine doses, two mumps vaccine doses and one rubella vaccine dose are required for all students entering Georgia schools, including colleges. If your adolescent did not receive a second dose of the measles and mumps vaccine at the start of middle school or before, it should be given at this time.
** Talk to your doctor about any new or additional vaccines your adolescent may need, such as those for influenza or hepatitis A. If you or someone you know will be traveling to another country, be sure to ask your doctor about vaccines that may be needed.

Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis
Tetanus causes violent muscle spasms and has the highest death rate of any vaccine-preventable disease.
How Does it Spread? It develops when an open wound gets infected with bacteria.
Diphtheria causes a severe throat infection that can make swallowing or breathing difficult. It also can cause heart failure or paralysis.
How Does it Spread? This infection is spread through coughing or sneezing.
Pertussis (whooping cough) causes violent coughing spells that can result in difficulty breathing, eating or drinking. It can lead to pneumonia, seizures or a coma and can be deadly for infants, who are not fully protected.1 The disease can be milder for adolescents and adults, similar to a severe cough and cold that can linger for months.
How Does it Spread? Pertussis spreads easily through coughing or sneezing.
Did You Know?
A total of 25,827 cases of pertussis were reported in 2004, the largest number since 1959. Approximately 60 percent of these cases were among adolescents age 11 and older.2
Outbreaks are often seen in school settings and among family members.3
If you have a cough that lasts for more than a week, you should talk to your doctor about pertussis and avoid contact with infants and pregnant women.
Protection obtained from preschool shots does not last a lifetime and booster doses are needed.
Take Action Proof of vaccination is required at the time of entry to Georgia schools, including colleges. If your adolescent did not get the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (Tdap) booster before starting middle school, it should be given immediately.

Varicella (chickenpox) Varicella can cause serious health problems such as skin infections, pneumonia and, in rare cases, brain swelling. Adolescents and adults are 10 to 20 times more likely to have serious problems. How Does it Spread? Chickenpox spreads in the air by droplets or through contact with fluid from inside one of the red, itchy blisters. A person is most contagious just after symptoms start and remains contagious until the last blisters dry up. Take Action A history of chickenpox or proof of two doses of vaccination is required for all students attending schools in Georgia, including childcare facilities and colleges. Adolescents who have not had chickenpox or the vaccine should receive two doses of the vaccine. These should be given four to eight weeks apart.
Footnotes 1.Immunization Action Coalition's vaccine safety information,
www.vaccineinformation.org/pertuss/cases.asp 2.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and
Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. Atkinson W, Hambosrky J, McIntyre L, Wolfe S, eds. ninth ed. Washington, D.C.: Public Health Foundation, 2006. 3.National Foundation for Infectious Diseases fact sheet, www.nfid.org/factsheets/pertussis.pdf 4. "FDA Approves Quadrivalent Conjugate Meningococcal Vaccine," Infectious Diseases in Children, February 2005; Volume 18, No. 2

Meningococcal Disease (meningitis, septicemia)
Meningococcal disease is caused by a bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis, or meningococcus. The two most common forms are:
Meningitis--an inflammation of the membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain (Meningitis has other causes as well, the most common being a viral infection.)
Septicemia--an infection of the bloodstream
How Does it Spread? This infection is spread through close personal contact. This includes sharing items that touch a person's mouth (such as utensils, drinks or lip balm) and through kissing, coughing or sneezing.
Did You Know?
Rates for meningococcal disease rise during adolescence and peak between the ages of 15 to 24.4
College freshman who live in dorms are five times more likely to be infected with meningococcal disease, compared to others the same age.5
Of those who contract meningococcal disease, 10 percent to 15 percent die and 11 percent to 19 percent suffer mental retardation, hearing loss, seizures/strokes, or the loss of arms or legs.6
Take Action Two vaccines are available to protect against the four most common types of meningococcal bacteria, which account for two-thirds of the cases of meningitis in adolescents. It is recommended that adolescents receive the meningococcal vaccine. All Georgia colleges require students living in campus housing to document they have been vaccinated or that they have reviewed information about meningococcal disease.
5. Meningococcus: What You Should Know, www.vaccine.chop.edu, Winter 2005, Volume 1
6. Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine--ACIP Recommends Meningococcal Vaccine for Adolescents, www.cdc.gov/nip
7. "Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine - Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices." Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Morbidity and Mortality Report (MMWR), 2007; 56:RR-2.