Current developments in new vaccines for adolescents.
Routine immunization in early childhood is well accepted and healthcare policies are designed to achieve optimal immunization coverage in this age group. This machinery is so well designed that when new vaccines become available, they are included in infant immunization schedules, even if not necessarily needed at this age, just because we have no mechanism to get in touch, in a systematic way, with adolescents, adults, and the elderly. However, it is well recognized that adolescence is the age with the greatest risk for exposure to sexually transmitted infectious diseases. As several vaccines targeted at this age group are likely to become available in the near future, healthcare policies and vaccine combinations should be designed to provide an optimal vaccine coverage at this age. Implementing this vaccination policy would not only provide the most effective means of preventing infectious diseases, but it would also anchor adolescents into a chartered channel of comprehensive preventive health care.
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Chiron Vaccines, Siena, Italy.
D000293:Adolescent; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D014611:Vaccination / Q000639:trends*; D014765:Viral Vaccines; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control
D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D014765:Viral Vaccines