Various international health organizations urge physicians to schedule an adolescent healthcare visit at 16 years

Dr KK Aggarwal

Leading international health organizations - American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College Health Association (ACHA), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American Pharmacists Association (APhA), Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) and Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) - have urged physicians to schedule an adolescent healthcare visit at 16 years of age so that they can assess and provide their patients the recommended adolescent vaccines.

This visit will also provide clinicians to address the various other healthcare needs for the patients, including behavior issues.

The US recommends the following vaccines at 16 years of age

·         Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) dose #2

·         Influenza vaccine (seasonally)

Vaccine recommended for individual clinical decision making

·         Meningococcal serogroup B vaccine series (MenB)

Catch-up vaccination, if not already completed

·         Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series

·         Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine

·         MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), varicella, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A and IPV (inactivated poliovirus vaccine) series

The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) recommends immunization for adolescents (10-18 years) under three broad categories.

Mandatory

·         Tadp/Td (Tdap preferred to Td, followed by repeat Td every 10 years (Tdap to be used once only)

·         HPV

Catch–up immunization

·         MMR

·         Hepatitis B

·         Hepatitis A

·         Typhoid

·         Varicella

Immunization under special circumstances

·         Influenza vaccine

·         Japanese encephalitis vaccine

·         PPSV23 (pneumococcal) vaccine

·         Rabies vaccine

Dengue vaccine has also been recently suggested for administration to adolescents in India (Indian Pediatr. 2019 Feb 15;56(2):101-4).

(Source: ACOG, Aug. 7, 2019; IAP Guidebook on Immunization 2013-2014)

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania   (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA