Immunization Surprises

For '08-'09 school year, Oregon has two new requirements for school & child care attendance

George Bengtson, MD

Broadway Medical Clinic

4212 NE Broadway

503-249-8787

Hepatitis A – two doses for preschool, child care or Head Start

Tetanus/Pertussis/Diphtheria (Tdap) – one dose entering seventh grade

-In addition, two other new vaccines are on the horizon:

Human Papilloma Virus – three doses starting at age eleven, recommended

Chicken pox (booster) – for children five years and older, recommended

  Tetanus/Pertussis/Diphtheria (Tdap)

Td booster has long been a fixture at the fifteen-year checkup

Increase in pertussis ("whooping cough") drove the addition of booster, move to age eleven

The "a" stands for "acellular", meaning the pertussis bug is sort of blenderized to diminish

side effects

 Human Papilloma Virus-Three types of HPV

Regular skin warts

Plantar warts (bottom of foot)

Genital warts

HPV vaccine protects against Genital warts, which can lead to cervical cancer

Three doses for girls age eleven and up (to late 20's)

Chicken Pox

Second dose recommended for children five and older who have had first dose

Main idea is to boost immunity in women of childbearing age to prevent fetal CP infection

Single CP vaccination is enough to prevent serious infection, but not enough to protect unborn 

 Hepatitis A

Transmission mostly food-borne, fecal-oral route (e.g. Deficient handwashing)

Two doses of vaccine are given over a six month period, not before first birthday

Note this is NOT hepatitis B, the kind transmitted by blood/sexual contact