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Thursday August 2 11:08 AM ET

US Officials Urge Vaccines at Back-To-School Time

By Alicia 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 James Turner, 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 Turner urged parents to consider the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for their college-age children, although it is not usually required by schools.

Martin 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.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.