| DISEASES and the VACCINES THAT PREVENT THEM | INFORMATION FOR PARENTS Vaccines for Preteens: What Parents Should Know Last updated JANUARY 2017 Why does my child need vaccines now? to get vaccinated. The best time to get the flu vaccine is as soon as it’s available in your community, ideally by October. Vaccines aren’t just for babies. Some of the vaccines that While it’s best to be vaccinated before flu begins causing babies get can wear off as kids get older. And as kids grow up illness in your community, flu vaccination can be beneficial as they may come in contact with different diseases than when long as flu viruses are circulating, even in January or later. they were babies. There are vaccines that can help protect your preteen or teen from these other illnesses. When should my child be vaccinated? What vaccines does my child need? A good time to get these vaccines is during a yearly health Tdap Vaccine checkup. Your preteen or teen can also get these vaccines at This vaccine helps protect against three serious diseases: a physical exam required for sports, school, or camp. It’s a tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). good idea to ask the doctor or nurse every year if there are any Preteens should get Tdap at age 11 or 12. If your teen didn’t vaccines that your child may need. get a Tdap shot as a preteen, ask their doctor or nurse about getting the shot now. What else should I know about these vaccines? These vaccines have all been studied very carefully and are Meningococcal Vaccine safe. They can cause mild side effects, like soreness or redness Meningococcal conjugate vaccine protects against some in the part of the arm where the shot was given. Some of the bacteria that can cause meningitis (swelling of the preteens and teens might faint after getting a shot. Sitting lining around the brain and spinal cord) and septicemia (an or lying down when getting a shot and then for about 15 infection in the blood). Preteens need the first meningococcal minutes after the shot, can help prevent fainting. Serious side shot when they are 11 or 12 years old. They need a second effects are rare. It is very important to tell the doctor or nurse meningococcal shot at age 16. if your child has any serious allergies, including allergies to yeast, latex, or chicken eggs, before they receive any shots. HPV Vaccine Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines help protect both girls and boys from HPV infection and cancer caused by HPV. How can I get help paying for these vaccines? The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides vaccines All 11- and 12-year-olds should receive two shots of HPV for children ages 18 years and younger, who are uninsured, vaccine 6-12 months apart. Preteens and teens who haven’t Medicaid-eligible, American Indian or Alaska Native. You can started or finished the HPV vaccine series should ask the find out more about the VFC program by going online to www. doctor or nurse about getting them now. cdc.gov and typing VFC in the search box. Flu Vaccine The annual flu vaccine is the best way to reduce the chances Where can I learn more? of getting seasonal flu and spreading it to others. Even Talk to your child’s doctor or nurse about what vaccines they healthy preteens and teens can get very sick from the flu and may need. You can also find more information about these spread it to others. While all preteens and teens should get a vaccines on CDC’s Vaccines for Preteens and Teens website at flu vaccine, it’s especially important for those with chronic www.cdc.gov/vaccines/teens. health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease DISTRIBUTED BY: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CS HCVG15-PTT-114 02/33/2017 CS HCVG15-PTT-114 If You Choose Not to Vaccinate Your Child, | information for parents | Understand the Risks and Responsibilities. Reviewed March 2012 If you choose to delay some vaccines or reject some vaccines entirely, there can be risks. Please follow these steps to protect your child, your family, and others. With the decision to delay or reject Before an outbreak of a vaccine- vaccines comes an important preventable disease occurs in your responsibility that could save your community: child’s life, or the life of someone else. • Talk to your child’s doctor or nurse to be sure your child’s Any time that your child is ill and you: medical record is up to date regarding vaccination status. • call 911; Ask for a copy of the updated record. • ride in an ambulance; • Inform your child’s school, childcare facility, and other caregivers about your child’s vaccination status. ­ • visit a hospital emergency room; or • Be aware that your child can catch diseases from people who • visit your child’s doctor or any clinic don’t have any symptoms. For example, Hib you must tell the medical staff that your child has not meningitis can be spread from people who have the received all the vaccines recommended for his or her age. bacteria in their body but are not ill. You can’t tell who Keep a vaccination record easily accessible so that you can is contagious. report exactly which vaccines your child has received, even when you are under stress. Telling health care professionals your child's vaccination status is essential for two reasons: • When your child is being evaluated, the doctor will need to consider the possibility that your child has a vaccine- preventable disease. Many of these diseases are now uncommon, but they still occur. • The people who help your child can take precautions, such as isolating your child, so that the disease does not spread to others. One group at high risk for contracting disease is infants who are too young to be fully vaccinated. For example, the measles vaccine is not usually recommended for babies younger than 12 months. Very young babies who get measles are likely to be seriously ill, often requiring hospitalization. Other people at high risk for contracting disease are those with weaker immune systems, such as some people with cancer and transplant recipients. CS233434S When there is vaccine-preventable If you know your child is exposed to a disease in your community: vaccine-preventable disease for which he • It may not be too late to get protection by getting vaccinated. or she has not been vaccinated: Ask your child’s doctor. • Learn the early signs and symptoms of the disease. • If there are cases (or, in some circumstances, a single case) • Seek immediate medical help if your child or any family of a vaccine-preventable disease in your community, you members develop early signs or symptoms of the disease. ­ may be asked to take your child out of school, childcare, or organized activities (for example, playgroups or sports). IMPORTANT: Notify the doctor’s office, urgent care facility, ambulance personnel, or • Your school, childcare facility, or other institution will tell emergency room staff that your child has not been you when it is safe for an unvaccinated child to return. fully vaccinated before medical staff have contact Be prepared to keep your child home for several days up to with your child or your family members. They several weeks. need to know that your child may have a vaccine- • Learn about the disease and how it is spread. It may not preventable disease so that they can treat your child be possible to avoid exposure. For example, measles is so correctly as quickly as possible. Medical staff also contagious that hours after an infected person has left can take simple precautions to prevent diseases from the room, an unvaccinated person can get measles just by spreading to others if they know ahead of entering that room. ­ time that their patient may have a contagious disease. • Each disease is different, and the time between when your • Follow recommendations to isolate your child from others, child might have been exposed to a disease and when he or including family members, and especially infants and people she may get sick will vary. Talk with your child’s doctor or with weakened immune systems. Most vaccine-preventable the health department to get their guidelines for determining diseases can be very dangerous to infants who are too young when your child is no longer at risk of coming down with to be fully vaccinated, or children who are not vaccinated due the disease. to certain medical conditions. • Be aware that for some vaccine-preventable diseases, there are medicines to treat infected people and medicines to keep Be aware. people they come in contact with from getting the disease. 4 Any vaccine-preventable disease can strike at any • Ask your health care professional about other ways to protect time in the U.S. because all of these diseases still your family members and anyone else who may come into circulate either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world. contact with your child. 4 Sometimes vaccine-preventable diseases cause • Your family may be contacted by the state or local health outbreaks, that is, clusters of cases in a given area. department who track infectious disease outbreaks in the 4 Some of the vaccine-preventable diseases that community. ­ still circulate in the U.S. include whooping cough, chickenpox, Hib (a cause of meningitis), and If you travel with your child: influenza. These diseases, as well as the other vaccine-preventable diseases, can range from mild • Review the CDC travelers’ information website to severe and life-threatening.