birth to age 6 and 7 to 18 = 2 new vaccine schedules to increase pharma profits

[Guest guest]

but let us remember how unprofitable the vaccines industry is

http://www.timesanddemocrat.com/articles/2007/01/08/features/doc45a30f

de85bc2617365432.txt

Shot schedules changed

Annual flu shot up to age 5, 2nd chickenpox now recommended

Monday, January 08, 2007

When we think of shots, we used to think of moms, little kids and

lollipops.

All that has changed.

New recommendations for immunizations were released Friday by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of

Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. On the new

immunizations for rotavirus, human papillomavirus (HPV), varicella

(chickenpox) and childhood influenza.

For the first time, there are two separate shot schedules: one for

children from birth to age 6 and another for those 7 to 18.

" We are providing a separate schedule for those seven to 18 years of

age because of an increasing number of vaccines being developed to

protect adolescents against disease, " said Dr. Anne Schuchat,

director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National

Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization

Practices periodically reviews the recommended immunization schedule

for persons aged 0--18 years to ensure that the schedule is current

with changes in vaccine formulations and reflects revised

recommendations for the use of licensed vaccines, including those

newly licensed.

Doctors are required to give parents or patients with copies of the

Vaccine Information Statements before giving one of the shots on the

immunization schedule, according to the National Childhood Vaccine

Injury Act. Additional information is available from state health

departments and from the CDC at

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/vis.

Rotavirus

A virus causing severe diarrhea in babies and young children,

rotavirus causes 200,000 emergency room visits, between 55,000 and

70,000 hospitalizations and 20 to 60 deaths a year in the United

States.

Varicella (Chickenpox)

Before the vaccine was licensed, an average of 13,500

hospitalizations and 150 deaths from complications of varicella

occurred each year in the United States.

Childhood influenza

Children 24 months to five years old, as well as their household

contacts and caregivers, have now been included among those who

should receive an annual influenza shot.

Previously, the recommendation was for children 6 to 23 months old,

but this has been expanded to those up to 59 months because influenza

often causes serious illness in children from 2 to 5. This age group

goes to the emergency room and to healthcare providers for reasons

related to influenza more than older children. Children 6 to 24

months old are nearly as likely to be hospitalized for complications

from influenza as adults 65 and older.

Human papillomavirus

Girls 11 to 12 years are now urged to receive a three-dose series of

HPV vaccine, with the second dose two months after the first dose and

the third dose at least four months after the second dose. Starting

at age 9 and up to 26, girls are allowed to get the shot for HPV,

which infects more than 20 million men and women in the United

States. There are 6.2 million new infections each year.

The 2007 immunization schedules can be found at CDC's Morbidity and

Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr.

NEW SCHEDULE

*Rotavirus vaccine (Rota)

Three-doses at ages 2, 4 and 6 months. First at ages 6 to 12 weeks,

with subsequent dose administered at 4 to 10 week intervals. Should

not be initiated in infants less than 12 weeks old and should not be

administered after 32 weeks old.

*Influenza vaccination

Now recommended for all children aged 6--59 months.

*Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine

First dose at age 12--15 months, and a new second dose at age 4 to 6

years. Catch-up second dose for older children, adolescents and

adults who have only received one dose.

*HPV vaccine

A three-dose schedule with the second and third administered 2 and 6

months after the first dose. Recommended for females ages 11 to 12;

can be started as young as 9; catch-up vaccination for those 13 to 26

and not vaccinated previously or who haven't completed the series.