US Officials Urge Vaccines at Back-To-School Time

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Thursday August 2 11:08 AM ET

US Officials Urge Vaccines at Back-To-School Time

By Ault

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - Proclaiming August as the first

National Immunization Awareness Month, federal health officials on

Wednesday urged parents to make sure their children are up-to-date on

vaccines before entering school this fall.

Eleven diseases are preventable with vaccines and young children and

teenagers are especially vulnerable to these illnesses, which include

measles, chickenpox and meningitis, said Dr. Walter Orenstein,

director of the National Immunization Program at the US Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC).

Orenstein noted that over the years, vaccination has almost

completely eradicated sickness and death due to these diseases. But

he said the CDC's annual National Immunization Survey shows that

there are still diseases where many children have not received proper

vaccination.

From 1999 to 2000, there was a slight decrease in coverage for a

popular series of immunizations that covers diphtheria, tetanus,

pertussis, polio, and Haemophilus influenza B. But, 68% of children

surveyed had shots against chickenpox in 2000, a significant increase

from 58% in 1999, Orenstein said.

Greater vaccination helps prevent disease spread, he pointed out.

``Not only do vaccines protect individuals from contracting disease,

they protect the community, as well,'' Orenstein noted.

And vaccinations should not halt once students leave grade school,

but continue on into adolescence and young adulthood, he said.

College students can be vulnerable to tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis

B, chickenpox, influenza, and more rarely, bacterial meningitis, said

, chairman of the American College Health Association's

Vaccine-Preventable Disease Task Force.

Meningitis seems to be on the increase in that group, and can have

deadly consequences.

Lynn Bozof, a mother from Marietta, Georgia, told of how her son

Evan, a 20-year-old honor student, died after a 26-day

hospitalization for bacterial meningitis.

``It was only after Evan died that my family learned there was a

vaccine that could have saved his life,'' she said. She noted that

the college and Evan's doctors had not mentioned the vaccine, which

covers four of the five known bacterial strains that cause meningitis.

Bozof and urged parents to consider the pneumococcal conjugate

vaccine for their college-age children, although it is not usually

required by schools.

Myers, director of the National Vaccine Program Office at the

Department of Health and Human Services (news - web sites), said high-

risk adults, especially those over age 65, should receive influenza

and pneumococcal vaccines to ward off deadly respiratory infections.

The flu kills about 20,000 Americans each year, and the vaccine can

prevent 85% of those deaths, Myers explained.

He noted that two thirds of seniors are getting the vaccine, which is

covered by Medicare, but that there are still huge racial disparities.

There will be a shortage of flu vaccine again this year, although not

as severe as in the 2000-2001 flu season, Myers stated. He said the

government had been working with manufacturers, distributors, health

providers, and private retail outlets and others who offer mass

immunizations to ensure that enough vaccine was available to those

who need it most early in the season.

The flu vaccine shortage--and a similar shortage of tetanus and

diphtheria ingredients--is largely due to several manufacturers

leaving the vaccine business. Myers admitted that vaccines, which

have huge public health benefits, aren't attractive to drug companies

because of large development costs and slim profits.