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April 12, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Doctors Group: More Vigilance Needed in Immunizing Adults" Associated Press (www.ap.org) (04/12/02); Loviglio, Joann

The American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine's immunization advisory panel stated Thursday that doctors should work harder to ensure that adult patients are up-to-date in their immunizations.  According to Dr. Gregory Poland, the head of the advisory panel, adults are far more likely than children or teenagers not to get all the immunizations they require.  As a result, adults are 100 times more likely than young people to die from a vaccine-preventable illness.  Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, another member of the advisory panel, also noted that each year, approximately 50,000 people die from three vaccine-preventable illnesses: hepatitis B, pneumococcal pneumonia, and influenza.

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