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Are You up to Date?
Vaccine Recommendations for Your Preteen
By Keath Castelloe Low
August is the time of year we begin to think of back-to-school activities: buying new school clothes and shoes, getting school supplies and backpacks and connecting with our pediatricians for back-to-school physicals. August is also National Immunization Awareness Month. It makes sense to choose August as the time of year to focus our attention on immunizations as we prepare for back to school.
Is your child up to date on his immunizations? Is your preteen? Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that 11- and 12-year-olds receive three preteen vaccines?
Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, explains that "many parents do not realize that some childhood vaccines, such as those for tetanus and whooping cough, wear off over time and, as they get older, young people are at risk of exposure to different diseases at school, camp or in other new situations."
Experts at the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) have partnered to launch a new preteen vaccine campaign to educate and inform parents of these new recommendations. The campaign's launch coincides with National Immunization Awareness Month and is endorsed by the AAP, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Society for Adolescent Medicine.
An additional goal of this campaign is to increase parental awareness about the importance of having their 11- or 12-year-old seen for a checkup. "The preteen checkup is a great time to talk with your child's healthcare provider about your child's development, nutrition, safety and vaccination status," Dr. Schuchat says.
The three recommended vaccines include MCV4 (which protects against meningitis and its complications), Tdap (which is a booster against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis or "whooping cough") and for girls the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine (which protects against the most common types of cervical cancer).
