Teen Vaccinations

Most parents are pretty good about getting their young children vaccinated… but why aren’t more teenagers getting the recommended vaccines?

Three new vaccines have been licensed and recommended for teens since 2005, yet many are still not receiving them. Parents were asked their reasons for vaccine refusal. The most frequent answers were not recommended, not necessary and safety concerns or side effects.

]Here’s how the data stacked up on the new shots in boys and girls aged 13 to 17.For the Tdap/tetanus and diphtheria vaccine, immunization rates improved from just over 72- percent in 2008 to 81-percent in 2010.MCV4 shots for meningitis increased from just under 42-percent to nearly 63-percent.

But the three dose HPV vaccine has been slower to catch on. Girls getting all three doses grew from just 18-percent to 32-percent. Most parents said they hadn’t gotten these shots for their kids because they weren’t sexually active. It is now approved for girls AND boys.

The conclusion of the Pediatrics study? Parents need to be better educated to make sure they understand why their teens need to stay up on their shots.