School is in session and students have headed back to class. Days are getting shorter and as autumn approaches, cheers will erupt from football stadiums and other sports fields. Both teenagers and preteens will become more involved in a variety of activities.

There are so many sights, sounds and scenes to take in this fall. And that is all the more reason to remember that preteens and teens still need vaccines, especially as they gather together with school friends for classes and sports and with extended family members around the holidays.

Preteens and teens need four vaccines to protect against serious diseases. They are:  
• Meningococcal conjugate vaccine to protect against meningitis and blood infections, or septicemia, caused by specific bacteria entering the bloodstream.
• HPV, or human papillomavirus vaccine to protect against cancers caused by HPV.
• Tdap vaccine to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, more formally known as pertussis.
• A yearly flu vaccine to protect against seasonal flu.

Let’s break each one of those down. Meningococcal disease is uncommon, but sometimes deadly. It can cause very serious infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, which is meningitis, or blood, known as septicemia.

Meningococcal disease can spread from person to person. The bacteria that cause this infection can spread when people have close or lengthy contact with someone’s saliva, like through kissing or coughing, especially if they are in close quarters, such as locker rooms and dormitories. This puts teens and young adults at increased risk for meningococcal disease.

There are two types of vaccines used to help protect preteens and teens from meningococcal disease. The CDC recommends all children 11 and 12 years old to be vaccinated with a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) and with a booster dose at age 16 so they continue to have protection during the ages when they are at highest risk of meningococcal disease. Then, teens and young adults ages 16 through 23 may also receive the serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine, preferably at 16 through 18 years old.

Around the age of 11 or 12 is also when kids should receive their first vaccines to protect them against HPV. HPV is an incredibly common infection. About 79 million people in the United States, many of them teenagers and young adults, have HPV. Luckily, most cases of HPV go away. Those that do not can lead to cancer. Every year, HPV causes 31,000 cancers in women and men. The HPV vaccine protects against types of HPV that cause most cases of cervical cancers and many cases of other cancers, including cancers of the anus, penis, vulva, vagina and oropharynx, or the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils.

It is recommended that children get the vaccine at the age of 11 or 12, long before they become sexually active. However, older teens and even young adults can still gain some protection from the HPV vaccine.

The other two vaccines are ones that everyone should be familiar with at this age and that are also good to receive into adulthood. Tdap is especially important for anyone who will be around babies younger than 1 year old. That’s because babies experience the most severe whooping cough symptoms—sometimes leading to hospitalization and death—and they also aren’t fully protected against it until they have completed their DTaP vaccinations, the recommended inoculation against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis for children under the age of 6 years old.

Finally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that just about everybody over the age of 6 months get a flu shot annually, ideally before the end of October. It is especially important for young children and children of all ages with certain chronic conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, for example, to get vaccinated to decrease their chances of having serious illness and complications from the flu.

Flu vaccines are needed periodically not only because protection wanes over time, but the strains of influenza can change each season. Complications of flu can include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration and worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, asthma or diabetes. Some cases of flu can be serious enough to require hospitalization or even result in death.

Getting these vaccines help ensure that your child can continue to participate in all the sports and school activities that are popular this time of year without interruption. Vaccines are the safest and most effective way to prevent several diseases. They are thoroughly tested and carefully monitored even after they are licensed. Feel free to discuss vaccines with your child’s doctor, taking advantage of visits for sports, camp or college physicals for information on vaccines your child needs. And feel free to contact the Monongalia County Health Department at 304-598-5119.

When I reached adulthood, I thought I was done with vaccines. Then my father was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). If I caught a cold—let alone influenza—I could not be around him. The idea that I could miss spending Christmas with my family because of illness made me nervous as the holidays approached. 

That’s why I get a flu vaccine every year. Getting one did not completely ensure that I wouldn’t get sick with something contagious, but it increased my odds that I would be well to visit my father whenever I wanted to.

Even now that he’s gone, I continue to get vaccinated against influenza every year, in early fall. I now know that a bout with the flu is no fun and that if I come down with it, not only will I miss work, but it also will take me a while to get back up to speed with other activities as well. 

The toll that vaccine-preventable illnesses can take on us—especially as we get older—is a great reason to brush up on what inoculations you might still need, as well as what age. On average each year, 226,000 people are hospitalized with influenza, and between 3,000 and 49,000 people die of the illness and its complications. Most of these people are adults. Just about everyone over the age of 6 months can get the flu vaccination. Those with chronic conditions or weakened immune systems especially should line up for a shot. 

But flu isn’t the only disease to keep at bay. About 900,000 people get pneumococcal pneumonia every year, leading to as many as 400,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 deaths. And between 850,000 to 2.2 million people have Hepatitis B, which can lead to complications including liver cancer. 

In the United States alone, human papillomavirus (HPV) causes about 17,000 cancers in women and 9,000 cancers in men each year. About 4,000 women die each year from cervical cancer.

And of the approximately 1 million cases of shingles that occur annually, up to 9 percent will involve the eye. Even those that don’t still result in a painful, blistering rash on the body and sometimes on one half of the face. Shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. If you had chickenpox as a child, the virus remains dormant in your body and can emerge as a case of the shingles, often when you are older. 

Luckily, there is a way to help avoid these illnesses—through vaccination. Unfortunately, not all adults know about their risk for these illnesses. Or they are so busy with their jobs and their families they do not take the time to protect themselves. For instance, only 28 percent of adults 60 years or older have received shingles vaccination.
 
Certain vaccines are recommended based on a person’s age, occupation or health conditions, such as asthma, COPD, diabetes or heart disease. Lifestyle also is a factor. If you like to travel, the CDC has a website just for you at cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list. Check it out and see what vaccines you might need depending on your destination. 

All adults should have their immunization needs assessed by a health provider, including expectant mothers, who can receive the flu vaccine during any trimester of pregnancy. And if you are pregnant or going to be around babies and young children, a Tdap vaccine not only offers protection against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, but also offers a safety net to the infants and toddlers against the latter illness, also known as whooping cough. Whooping cough is usually much more serious for babies who are too young for vaccination, and a case of it can result in hospitalization and even death. 

If you are unsure which vaccinations you need, the CDC offers a short quiz that will guide you. And remember, your physician or health care provider also can be of help when deciding which inoculations you should get and when.

For more information about adult and travel vaccines, call the Monongalia County Health Department at 304-598-5119.

Vaccines have proven to be an invaluable weapon against several formerly common diseases. Unfortunately, babies are not born fully vaccinated, and it takes some time to get them up to speed through the recommended schedule to inoculate them against 14 diseases before they are 2 years old.

This is where the mother comes in. During a pregnancy, a woman is getting vaccinated for two—not only to keep her from getting ill but also to pass on maternal antibodies against certain diseases to her baby.

Two great examples are the vaccines to protect against influenza and pertussis, better known as whooping cough, both of which should be administered to the mother during pregnancy. A woman who is expecting is at an increased risk for complications during a bout with the flu. That’s because changes in immune, heart and lung functions make a bout with the flu more potentially dangerous. And pregnant women with the flu have a greater chance for serious problems for the developing babies, including premature labor and delivery.

Babies cannot receive their first flu shot until the age of 6 months. Therefore, it makes sense for the mother to get the vaccine during pregnancy to help protect both herself and the baby.

Ideally, making sure she is up-to-date on shots actually begins before pregnancy. For women who need live vaccines, those should be administered at least one month before getting pregnant. Vaccines received during pregnancy should be inactivated, which means the viruses or bacteria in the vaccine are killed rather than weakened. Pregnant women can receive a flu shot made with killed virus during any trimester, so that is not a problem. Flu activity can begin as early as October and can last as late as May, and it generally takes up to two weeks for the vaccine to provide full protection against the flu.

Then there is whooping cough. Young babies are especially susceptible to a bout with this disease, often being exposed to it by adults who might not realize they have it. Babies do not begin the series of five vaccines, called DTaP, until the age of 2 months and ending between the ages of 15 to 18 months. Up to 20 babies die of whooping cough each year in the United States, and about half of the babies younger than the age of 1 who get illness require treatment in the hospital.

Not only that, but in spite of its name, not all babies have the hallmark cough when sick with this disease. Instead, it can cause them to stop breathing and turn blue.

The good news is that whooping cough is usually less severe in babies whose mothers got the vaccine while pregnant. Over the age of 6, the inoculation that helps protect against pertussis—as well as diphtheria and tetanus—is called the Tdap vaccine. And an expectant mother who wants to protect her child against whooping cough should get the Tdap vaccine between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, each time she is having a baby.

Another strategy for keeping babies safe is for any other caregivers or household members who will be close to the infant inoculated as well. This is called “cocooning,” and while it’s a good idea, it is still important for the pregnant mother to receive the Tdap vaccine.

So while making plans for the baby like what color to paint the nursery and reading up on childbirth, expectant mothers also should explore the vaccines they should receive during pregnancy. Talk to your ob-gyn or midwife, visit the CDC Adult Vaccine Site Maternal Vaccines: Part of a Healthy Pregnancy or call the Monongalia County Health Department at 304-598-5119.

No young child enjoys getting a shot. I remember convincing my sister to politely ask our pediatrician to forego our vaccines during one appointment. In my toddler mind, I thought that would do the trick to avoid a nurse sticking a needle into my arm. I was wrong. What I didn’t realize at the time was that a few uncomfortable moments could spare me a bout with an unpleasant illness—one that not only made me feel sick but also that my sister could catch, keeping my mother at home taking care of us.

These days, parents have an arsenal to help them combat 14 harmful and potentially deadly diseases that their kids can be exposed to at home, during a playdate with a friend, at day care, or at preschool. And all before their children hit the terrible twos. Most parents agree that inoculating their offspring against diseases such as measles, chickenpox, and whooping cough is the right thing to do. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nine out of 10 people have their children vaccinated according to an immunization schedule or intend to do so.

And that is in spite of the fact that most young parents have never seen the devastating effects that measles can have on a family and the surrounding community. The 2015 measles outbreak and a current outbreak in Minnesota serve as reminders of how quickly infectious diseases can spread when they reach groups of unvaccinated people. And that’s a tragedy, because vaccines are thoroughly tested before licensing and monitored after licensing to make sure they are safe.

Unfortunately, recent measles outbreaks show that people sometimes become complacent when they forget how commonplace those diseases were before the widespread availability of vaccines. Many of them also never saw complications associated with illnesses such as measles. Measles can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children. According to the CDC, one out of four people who get measles will be hospitalized, one out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop brain swelling due to an infection called encephalitis—which may lead to brain damage—and one or two out of 1,000 people with measles will die, even with the best care.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. Then travelers brought it back from other countries and it was spread to communities with larger-than-normal numbers of people who did not get vaccinated, perhaps for religious, philosophical, or personal reasons. The MMR vaccine—when administered according to the CDC’s immunization schedule—provides children with protection from measles, mumps, and rubella.

Another disease that has made recent headlines is pertussis, better known as whooping cough. There was an outbreak as recently as 2012, according to the CDC. Pertussis can cause serious and sometimes deadly complications for babies and young children, especially those who are not fully vaccinated. Complications include:

• 1 out of 2 babies younger than the age of 1 will need hospital care
• 1 out of 4 will get pneumonia
• 1 out of 100 will experience convulsions
• 3 out of 5 will have apnea, or slowed or stopped breathing
• 1 out of 300 will have encephalopathy, or disease of the brain
• 1 out of 100 will die

The DTaP vaccine, administered at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 through 18 months, and through the ages of 4 and 6, not only protects against whooping cough, but also diphtheria and tetanus. If a child falls behind schedule, he or she can get the Tdap vaccine after the age of 6.

These are just two of the common childhood illnesses that vaccines can prevent or make symptoms less severe. Vaccines are the safest and most effective way to protect children from these diseases. Parents can provide the best protection by following the recommended immunization schedule, giving children the vaccines they need, when they need them.

It might seem overwhelming, but the CDC has prepared a graph and chart that lays out all the information detailing the 14 diseases prevented by vaccines before the age of 2 in an easy-to-read format. And all vaccines used in the United States require extensive safety testing before they are licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

For more information on vaccines, contact your health care provider or the Monongalia County Health Department (MCHD) at 304-598-5119. If you are sending your children back to school, information on West Virginia school immunization requirements can be found on our webpage.