Nobody is too old to get protection from pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella and certainly teens and parents of teens have heard about the new HPV vaccine recommended for young people up to age 26 as a protection against cervical cancer and genital warts.
With thousands of students headed back to school, health officials have focused on how we are doing reaching teenagers and getting them in for vaccines.
“Coverage nationally is 44 percent for HPV, which may not sound great, because we reach 90 percent or higher for childhood vaccines,” said Dr. Jane Seward, the Deputy Director of Viral Diseases in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “But we have made tremendous improvements.”
Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered right to your inbox
Seward said that California and Los Angeles County have done extremely well and are leading the country.
“That’s something to be proud of, but again, there is still some work to do to get those rates up,” she said.
Public health officials like Seward are focusing their efforts on getting the word out, educating the media and the public about the importance of a health checkup for those students in the pre-teen and teen years. They have conducted national ad campaigns on TV and ads in magazines, as well as posters and literature in a variety of languages.
“We still have work to be done,” Seward said. “While California is doing as well as the rest of the country, it’s not enough to prevent an epidemic of whooping cough. Teens and adults are the ones who give it to the babies, who die. (Eight babies have died in California this year). The only way to protect those who are too young to be vaccinated are to protect those who are holding them and caring for them.”
She said that the final decisions lie with parents, and some of them do choose to avoid immunization for their children. Seward recommended that parents consider the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control, in their role as educators, providing accurate information about disease and the risks and benefits of vaccines.
“And parents should never let finances be a barrier,” she warned. “Parents who need help paying for vaccines should talk to their health care providers. There are several programs that provide free immunizations for uninsured children.
Additional information is available by calling the CDC at 1-800-CDCINFO.