Once you realize that these diseases, like measles, flu, and meningococcal meningitis, etc., might in the best case scenario just keep you out of school for a few weeks, but can also tragically be deadly, you will hopefully encourage them to catch up on all of their vaccines.
Your Teen and Vaccines
You probably shouldn’t just assume that they have already had all of their immunizations just because they were attending public or private high school. Even if you had been following the standard immunization schedule, state vaccine laws do vary, so they may have missed some. To be sure they have had all of their recommended vaccines, talk to your doctor and compare their immunization record against the latest immunization schedule from the CDC. You can likely get a copy of their shot record from:
Your pediatrician or family doctor A state immunization registry Their high school
Unfortunately, if you can’t find their immunization records, you will either have to have blood tests to verify that they are immune or have some vaccine doses repeated.
Vaccines for High School Catch-up
Are they missing any vaccines? Although most high school students have had their DTaP, MMR, hepatitis B, and polio vaccines, etc., they may have missed some others that are not mandated by law in their state. These vaccines include those that protect us against:
Hepatitis A — a two-dose series that is traditionally given to toddlersChickenpox — some states don’t mandate a recommended second dose of VarivaxMeningococcal disease – traditionally given as a two-dose series at age 11-12 years, with a booster at age 16-18 years, but fewer than half of states even mandate the first doseHPV — only two states, Virginia and Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia have a mandate for the human papilloma vaccine
Even the Tdap vaccine, which protects us against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis isn’t required for kids to attend school in Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, and South Dakota.
Vaccines for College and Young Adults
If you have been seeing your pediatrician or family doctor for a yearly checkup and have been getting vaccinated according to the recommended CDC immunization schedule, there is a good chance that your teen will only need a yearly flu vaccine and one other vaccine before heading off to college — a meningococcal booster. Although not a common infection, the results of getting meningococcal disease are often devastating. Up to 15% of cases are life-threatening and of those that survive, up to 19% have serious long-term effects, including loss of arms, legs, fingers, or toes, neurological disability, and deafness, etc. New meningococcal vaccines against the serogroup responsible for the remainder of cases, Bexsero and Trumenba, are also now available. First used on an investigational basis during outbreaks at Princeton and the University of California, Santa Barbara, they are recommended for anyone between the ages of 10 and 25 years who is at increased risk for meningococcal disease because of underlying medical conditions. Although not yet universally recommended, teens and young adults between the ages of 16 and 23 years may also get either Bexsero or Trumenba if they want to be protected against serogroup B meningococcal disease.
Vaccines for Special Situations
Even if your kids are truly up-to-date on their vaccines and are ready for college, they still might be missing a few vaccines in certain special situations. Do they have any chronic medical problems, like diabetes, sickle cell disease, or immune system problems? If so, then they may need one or more pneumococcal vaccines if they haven’t had them already, including Prevnar 13 and the Pneumovax 23 vaccine. Are they going to be traveling out of the country as part of your post-graduation plans? Travel vaccines, including those that protect against measles, typhoid, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and meningococcal disease, might be recommended depending on where they are going. Graduating from high school will bring enough challenges. Don’t let missing vaccines and getting a vaccine-preventable disease to add to them.
