Thanksgiving is a time when we all reflect on the things in our lives that we’re grateful for, which often include good health and happiness. I’m so very proud to be part of this large network of school nurses who help children achieve just that.
Since we launched Stats4Vax: Improving teen vaccination rates one school nurse at a time (Stats4Vax), hundreds of you have downloaded the materials and tools to inspire your students and their parents/guardians to speak to their healthcare providers about the importance of teen vaccination.
I want to encourage those of you who haven’t yet visited the Stats4Vax Resource page to do so now so we can help see that more teens are protected against serious infectious diseases.
The truth remains that millions of teens are under-vaccinated,1,2 which is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the following four vaccinations for teens:
- Meningococcal vaccine (including a second dose of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine)
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Note: ACIP recently voted to recommend a 2-dose series if the first dose was received before 15 years of age; a 3-dose series is recommended if the first dose was received at age 15 or later)
- Tdap vaccine
- Flu vaccine (each year)
The Stats4Vax Resource Library is full of easy-to-use tools that can be tailored to meet the needs of your student population and help you proactively discuss the importance of teen vaccination with your students. Check out the Resource Library to access the materials, which include a letter to send to parents/guardians; educational social media, newsletter, and website content; a talk track with messages to help you make teen immunization a priority; and other ideas to increase your impact. We here at NASN are incredibly thankful for all your help and continued efforts to promote the health of your students. So let’s get downloading so that we can see that they have their good health to be thankful for – for this year and for many years to come. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
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References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6533a4.htm?s_cid=mm6533a4_e.
- United States Census Bureau. (2013). Age and Sex Composition in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/age/data/2012comp.html.
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