Hepatitis Vaccination Rates Among US Adolescents Have
Increased
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 08 - Since the 1995 recommendation of the
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that all unvaccinated 11-
and 12-year-old children should be immunized against hepatitis B, rates of
vaccination among adolescents in the US have increased, according to a report in
the November issue of Pediatrics.
Despite the increase in uptake, the US still has some way to go to reach the
US Department of Health's goal of 90% coverage rates by 2010, study author Dr.
Mehran S. Massoudi, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, and colleagues note.
In the current study, Dr. Massoudi's team evaluated hepatitis B vaccination
coverage levels among 13-year-olds enrolled in three large health maintenance
organizations (HMOs). Coverage levels in 1996 were compared with those in 1998.
At all of the HMOs, the percentage of adolescents who had received all three
hepatitis B vaccine doses increased from 1996 to 1998. In fact, at one HMO,
coverage levels increased nearly fivefold from 5.5% to 25.7%. In 1998, coverage
levels at the HMOs ranged from 25.7% to 65.5%.
The current findings suggest that the ACIP recommendations are being
followed, the author state. Still, even the best coverage rate achieved suggests
that more effective vaccine strategies may be needed to achieve the 2010 goal,
they add.
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.
