REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES
CM-ID Report 2-A-06
Subject: New Adolescent Vaccines
Presented by: Jan Paterson, MD, Chair
Referred to: Reference Committee on Public Health
Meningococcal Vaccine
The committee reviewed information on the newly available meningococcal vaccine, which would protect young adolescents through high school and beyond the first year of college. Committee members agreed to recommend a new policy supporting this vaccine requirement for adolescents.
Pertussis Vaccine
In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first combination vaccine that provides a booster immunization against pertussis in combination with tetanus and diphtheria for adolescents. Reported United States pertussis cases are increasing and the prevalence among particular populations is growing as well. In 2003, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported 670 pertussis cases in the state, with at least six deaths, the highest number of deaths since 1968.
The illness is under-diagnosed and under-reported and the spectrum of disease varies widely.
Typically, adolescents acquire pertussis from community and household contacts and adults acquire it from their school-aged children and can then transmit the illness to their young infants who are at the highest risk of morbidity and mortality, according to Halperin.
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that all adolescents 12 years and older receive a single dose of Tdap in place of Td. If the patient already received Td, they can still receive Tdap. A five-year interval is recommended.
Recommendation 1 : That the Texas Medical Association support the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendation that 11 and 12-year-olds receive a vaccine against meningococcal disease. Catch-up vaccinations should be offered to those entering high school and to college freshmen, particularly those who live in dorms.
Recommendation 2 : That the Texas Medical Association support the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendation that 12-year-olds receive a booster vaccine against pertussis.
TMA House of Delegates: TexMed 2006