New Guidelines for Immunizations in 2012 - What You Need to Know, especially Parents, Nurses and Diabetics

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended changes to the immunization schedules for 2012. So for your sake, the sake of your children and the sake of your community, it's important to ensure that you are protected.

Before, a lot of children died from diseases that vaccines now prevent, such as whooping cough and measles. Those same germs exist today. Luckily, vaccines have nearly eradicated many infectious diseases that were once commonplace in the U.S., including diphtheria, mumps, rubella, tetanus and polio.

It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it. Immunizing children also protects the community. Some people cannot be immunized, such as children too young to be vaccinated, people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, and those who cannot make an adequate response to vaccination. Their only means of protection is cocooning, or being surrounded by others who are vaccinated.

For years, people with an egg allergy were told to avoid the flu vaccine because it contains egg protein and could trigger a reaction, but this advice no longer stands. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology released a new report stating people with egg allergies can -- and should -- get the flu shot this year.

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, is now recommended for males as well as females. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and while it is known to cause an increased risk of cervical cancer in women, its adverse effect on males has only recently been discovered. Most men (and women) who get HPV never develop any symptoms or health problems. But some types of HPV can cause men to develop genital warts and/or cancers in the rectum, penis, or oropharynx.

It is also now recommended that pregnant women receive a Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis) vaccine during pregnancy, after 20 weeks gestation, to cocoon young infants and protect them from pertussis (whooping cough) until they are old enough to receive the vaccine.

Hepatitis B vaccination is now recommended routinely for adults with a diagnosis of diabetes who are younger than age 60 years. Those with diabetes age 23 through 59 years have more than twice the risk for contracting hepatitis B compared to people without diabetes. Those with diabetes who are age 60 years or older may be vaccinated at physician discretion.

Parents constantly take steps to protect their children. These preventive measures range from child-proof door latches to safety seats. In the same respect, vaccines work to safeguard children by helping prepare their bodies to fight often serious, and potentially, deadly diseases.

In this month's issue of Pediatrics, (February 2012), The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a statement containing its 2012 immunization schedules for children and adolescents.

What's new?

· First, there are a lot of new guidelines on how doctors and health care workers should handle children who are behind on vaccinations, with specific requirements on how to catch them up, i.e. how close together certain vaccines can be given. If your child is behind on any shots, contact your doctor or local health department for specifics.

· They are now recommending influenza vaccines for all children aged 6 months through 8 years, (unless contraindicated). They also revised the list of children who should not take the FluMist, (a live-attenuated influenza vaccine), such as children with asthma or on an aspirin regimen.

· The 2012 schedule recommends the use of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in infants aged 6 through 11 months who will be traveling internationally.

· The second vaccine dose of Hepatitis A should now be administered 6 to 18 months after the first dose. The 0- to 6-year-old schedule now includes recommendations for children at least 2 years of age.

· The new schedule recommends the routine administration of a booster dose of meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) to children in whom risk for meningococcal disease is increased, (including young adults entering college). In the 0- to 6-year-old schedule, the MCV4 is recommended in certain high risk children as young as 9 months.

· The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is now included as a routine recommendation to vaccinate all children between the ages of 11-18 with the 3 dose series, including males up to the age of 21, and women up to age 26, if not previously vaccinated.

· They no longer require the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV or polio vaccine) for U.S. residents who are at least 18 years of age.

• New recommendations have been laid out for travelers. If you are planning to visit a foreign country, even if you've been there before, please talk to your doctor or local health department.
• Healthcare personnel (HCP) who care for persons requiring a protected environment should receive TIV, trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine, or the flu shot rather than the FluMist. HCP younger than 50 years who have no contraindications may receive either the FluMist or the flu shot.
• The HPV vaccine is not recommended for healthcare personnel (HCP) unless they are in the recommended age group.
• The zoster vaccination (shingles vaccine) is not specifically recommended for HCP, unless they are in the recommended age group. Although the FDA has approved this vaccine for use in persons at least 50 years of age, ACIP continues to recommend that vaccination begin at 60 years of age.
• The measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine is recommended for HCP only in the event of a setting outbreak.
• The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) vaccination is recommended in persons at least 65 years of age who had been vaccinated with PPSV23 at least 5 years previously.
• The meningococcal vaccination is now recommended for all military recruits in the group recommended to receive a single dose of meningococcal vaccine. College students through 21 years of age who are living in residence halls should be vaccinated if they have not received a dose on or after their 16th birthday.

Your child should still receive: HBV - 3 shots, DPT - 5 shots, HIB- 4 shots, Polio (IPV) - 4 shots, Pneumococcal (PCV) - 4 shots, Rotovirus - 3 doses, Influenza (seasonal with H1N1) - yearly, MMR - 2 shots, Varicella (chicken pox) - 2 shots, Hepatitis A - 2 shots, Meningococcal (MCV4) - 1 shot, HPV - 3 shots. *Boosters may be required in certain high risk groups.

Anyone living with, or in close contact with, a newborn infant needs to be sure their vaccinations are up to date, including MMR and flu. Check with your doctor. A baby is only as safe as the people in its environment.

Be sure to get a flu shot every year. I know many of you will want to argue this point, but let me assure you -- it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the flu from a flu shot. It's a dead virus, and while it can run down your immunity system and make you more susceptible to other virus for a short time, it can not give you the flu. Please see a doctor if you think you might be getting the flu or any other illness.

Stay healthy! Thanks! ~Karen