New meningococcal vaccine is recommended for teens

The shot will be the first of several immunizations for adolescents -- a group that traditionally has little to do with the health care system.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. March 28, 2005.

When Fred Girton, MD, sees an adolescent patient in his Macon, Ga., office for any reason, he also makes sure to offer a tetanus-diphtheria booster. Until recently, this immunization was the only one routinely recommended for this age group.

"It's like pulling teeth to have them come in for a vaccine because they think they're immortal. ... I can't blame them. I was pretty healthy when I was 14," said Dr. Girton, a family physician and the chair of the Dept. of Family Medicine at Mercer University.

He soon might have to convince these patients, traditionally an age group not targeted for vaccines and who tend to have minimal contact with the health care system, to get even more shots. Vaccines against the human papilloma and herpes viruses are expected to become available in the next few years. A booster against pertussis also is expected to be added to the diphtheria-tetanus vaccine before the end of the year.

More recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last month recommended that 11- and 12-year-olds receive a vaccine against meningococcal disease. Catch-up vaccinations should be offered to those entering high school and to college freshmen, particularly those who live in dorms.

"It's an excellent recommendation," Dr. Girton said. "What we have done in the past is catch the students going to college, but we missed the epidemiological bump in high schoolers."