As School Nurses, We Know:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adolescents from 11 to 18 years old be vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis. One dose of meningococcal vaccine should be administered at age 11 or 12. Since protection from the first dose wanes after 3 to 5 years in approximately half of immunized teens, a second (or booster) dose is recommended as early as age 16 to help protect teens during the years when they are at increased risk for getting the infection.1,2
But, Did You Also Know?
- The CDC released a report last year that revealed while 78% of teens 13 to 17 years of age received the first dose vaccine, fewer than 30% received the booster dose.3
This means millions of teens are under-vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis3,4, a rare but potentially fatal disease that can take a life within 24 hours.5
This year’s Voices of Meningitis health initiative, a collaboration between NASN and Sanofi Pasteur, is focused on changing this statistic.
In its 7th year, the initiative is using the power of music to help improve booster vaccination rates among teens. Actress, singer and star of ABC’s “Pretty Little Liars” Lucy Hale is lending her voice to the cause as the campaign ambassador to educate teens and their parents/guardians about meningococcal vaccination and encourage them to speak to their healthcare provider about the booster dose.
Lucy has been partnering with NASN’s Sally Schoessler and meningitis survivor Jamie Schanbaum to deliver these important messages to high schools across the country.
The Competition:
In March, Lucy helped launch the Voices of Meningitis “Boost the Volume” competition, which challenged local, high school a cappella singing groups from four key areas from across the country to “raise their voices” and perform an inspirational medley of songs to serve as a reminder to parents/guardians and teens about the importance of a meningococcal meningitis booster dose.
In May, the actual campaign launched and the winning four finalist a cappella groups from New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Portland were announced. Lucy, Sally and Jamie traveled to the winning high schools to educate teens and parents/guardians about meningitis and prevention. Attendees also got to view a performance of medley by Lucy and the winning a cappella group.
The initiative is continuing to engage school nurses with the campaign to help educate teens and parents/guardians.
A Public Service Announcement:
Of the four finalists, Lucy chose the grand-prize winning group, Unstrumental from Calabasas High School in California, who appears in a new public service announcement that will be airing on TV, nationwide starting this month. You can view the PSA here, which features Lucy, as well as Jamie Schanbaum who was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis when she was 20 years old.
Barriers to the Booster:
In an effort to help identify potential reasons why teens are not receiving a second vaccination, Voices of Meningitis commissioned an online survey of healthcare providers who see 16 to 21 year olds for well-visits and mothers whose 16 to 21 year old children received the first meningococcal vaccination but not the second vaccination. Overall, the findings underscore that both moms and healthcare professionals need to work together to help teens receive a meningococcal meningitis booster dose. Here are the findings:
- Healthcare providers said, on average, only 15% of their eligible patients or their patients’ parents/guardians proactively ask about a meningococcal booster dose. And 39% report that none of their patients or their patients’ parents/guardians proactively ask about it.
- 38% of moms said their child hasn’t received a second dose because they did not know a second dose is recommended.
- 32% of moms believe getting the first meningococcal vaccination is important but do not think getting a second meningococcal vaccination is essential.
The online survey of 276 U.S. mothers, and 256 U.S. healthcare providers was conducted in March by Harris Poll on behalf of Voices of Meningitis.
Our efforts to “Boost the Volume” around meningitis and booster vaccination awareness, do not stop here. Please join me in supporting this year’s effort to “boost the booster” and help improve vaccination rates. Visit BoostTheVolume.com to learn about this year’s program and don’t forget that we have helpful meningococcal meningitis education materials that can be found on NASN’s website here.
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1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, January 28). Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6003a3.htm.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, October 14). Meningococcal Vaccines: What You Need To Know. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/mening.pdf.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6329a4.htm?s_cid=mm6329a4_w.
4. United States Census Bureau. (2013). Age and Sex Composition in the United States. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from census.gov/population/age/data/2012comp.html.
5. World Health Organization. (2015, February). Meningococcal Meningitis. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/.
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