NEW YORK CITY (NBC) -
An influential group of doctors now says boys should get the vaccine originally designed to prevent cancer in women. It's just one of the changes the Centers for Disease Control is recommending for childhood vaccine.
Girls and boys nationwide have a new vaccination schedule to follow. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control are recommending vaccine changes -- starting with a meningitis booster shot for 16 year olds. Meningitis is a potentially deadly bacterial infection. Doctors say children should get vaccinated at age 11. But the vaccine weakens over time, leaving as many as half of those kids vulnerable by age 16. Texas has already made the shot mandatory to attend college.
Another change -- doctors now say boys as well as girls can get the HPV shot as early as age 9. Human papilloma virus is transmitted sexually and linked to cervical cancer in women. But certain strains are also the cause of many head and neck cancers, particularly in men. Doctors say the vaccine is most effective at creating HPV antibodies when kids reach age 11 or 12, often before they reach sexual maturity. "If you wait until you think you they're sexually active, you may miss the opportunity to protect them," said Dr. Michael Brady.
Kids aren't the only targets for the new vaccine schedule. There's new recommendations for moms-to-be. Research shows babies too young for a flu shot and the whooping cough vaccine can be born with antibodies to both illnesses, if their mothers had the shots while pregnant.
