Keeping Teens Healthy - Immunizations for Teens

What can I do?

As parents and adults who care about teens:

• Make sure teens get regular health checkups that include immunizations. The American Academies of Pediatrics and Family Physicians recommend a health checkup for all youth 11–12 years. This visit is a good time to make sure immunizations are up-to-date or to get any that are needed.
• Ask about immunizations any time teens see their doctor or nurse, like during sports physicals and other checkups.
• Get teens any missed immunizations before they graduate from high school.
• Make sure teens have a complete record of all immunizations. They may need it to show proof of immunization for college, travel, employment, or the military.

Which immunizations do teens need?

 Catch-Up Immunizations (Recommended for teens who didn’t get these childhood vaccines)

 Immunizations for At-Risk Teens

 Hepatitis B virus spreads through contact with blood and other body fluids. It can cause long-term liver infection leading to lifethreatening liver disease and liver cancer. Measles virus spreads very easily when a sick person coughs or sneezes. It causes a high fever, cold-like symptoms, and a rash. It can lead to pneumonia, hearing loss, brain damage, and even death.

Mumps virus spreads the same way as measles. It can cause headache, fever, and swelling of the cheeks, neck, or jaw. It can lead to hearing loss, meningitis, and brain damage.

Rubella virus also spreads like measles. It can cause a slight fever and a rash on the face and neck. Pregnant women who get rubella can miscarry, or have babies that are blind, deaf, or have developmental delays.

Polio virus spreads easily when a person puts something (food, water, hands, or an object) into their mouth that has infected feces or saliva on or in it. It can cause permanent paralysis and even death. There is no treatment for polio and it still exists in other countries.

Varicella (chickenpox) virus spreads like measles. It causes an itchy skin rash with blisters and fever. It can be severe, especially for teens and adults. Varicella can cause serious skin infections, pneumonia, and meningitis.

Influenza (flu) virus spreads easily when a sick person coughs or sneezes. Most flu is mild in teens, but can be very serious for family members younger than 5 years and teens with chronic conditions like asthma, heart disease, or diabetes. Pneumoccocal bacteria spread like the flu virus. It can cause serious blood infections, pneumonia, or meningitis.

Why does it matter?

Immunization is the single most important thing parents can do to protect their children from serious and sometimes deadly diseases.

Tetanus (lockjaw) bacteria can enter the body through deep cuts or wounds. It can cause muscle spasms, breathing problems, and death.

Diphtheria spreads when a sick person coughs or sneezes. It can cause breathing and heart problems, coma, paralysis, and death.

Pertussis (whooping cough) spreads like diphtheria. It causes coughing spells that make it hard to eat, drink, or even breathe. It can cause pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and death.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common virus spread through sexual contact. Most people with HPV don’t have symptoms. Long-term infection can cause genital warts or cervical cancer.

Meningococcal (MCV4) bacteria spread through close contact with infected persons by coughing, sneezing, kissing, or sharing anything by mouth, like utensils or toothbrushes. It can cause pneumonia, serious blood infections, and meningitis (swelling of the covering of the brain and spinal cord), with high fever, severe headache, light sensitivity, stiff neck, and rash. Severe disease can cause brain damage, and hearing or limb loss.

Hepatitis A virus spreads when a person puts something (food, water, hands, or an object) into their mouth that has infected feces on or in it. Hepatitis A spreads easily from one person to another in the same household or child care setting. Hepatitis A causes liver disease.