Immunization

Immunization services:

In addition to HPV, our office provides many other important vaccinations to our older patients. For many reasons this age group is particularly vulnerable to a variety of preventable diseases. The first reason is that they may have waning immunity to some of the diseases that they were vaccinated against as young children. A second reason is that they are now beginning to attend a variety of camp activities where they are housed in close quarters with many other peers and limited adult supervision when it comes to matters involving their hygiene. Yet another reason is that our older patients are more likely to travel out of the country to participate in activities such as mission trips.

One of the most important adolescent vaccines in recent years has been the new Tdap, which includes not only booster protection against tetanus and diptheria, but also pertussis (whooping cough). It is widely known that pertussis can be life threatening to infants, but many do not realize that it can cause coughing in adolescents that lasts for weeks. Another important vaccine helps protect against a deadly form of meningitis that often occurs in the teens and early college years. There is discussion about the possibility of giving a booster dose of this vaccine for those who received their initial dose more than 5 years ago. Adolescent wellness check-ups also provide an opportunity to catch up those patients who may not have received Hepatitis A vaccine, and to give booster doses of MMR and varicella (chicken pox) vaccine if needed. Finally, each year we offer universal influenza vaccination to all of our patients over the age of 6 months, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.