Teens Likely Target For New Vaccines

Vaccines have come a long way since 1022 A.D., when a Buddhist nun fashioned what many consider the precursor to vaccines in an effort to fight smallpox.

Since then, vaccines have stopped smallpox virus, are close to eradicating the polio virus and have slowed numerous other disease-causing microbes. Where are they headed?

Today, scientists and vaccine manufacturers are aiming the next wave of vaccines at a group considered the least likely to receive preventive care and most likely to exhibit risk-taking behavior-adolescents.

Experts in adolescent health see vaccines as effective tools for disease prevention.

“Despite strong recommendations from organizations such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, 35 million adolescents fail to receive at least one recommended vaccine,” said AMA President J. Edward Hill, M.D. “When adolescents do not receive recommended immunizations, they become vulnerable to diseases that can cause serious illness and even death.”