BACKGROUND:
Adolescents, age 10-18, are at risk for several vaccine preventable diseases including hepatitis A and B, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and meningococcal meningitis, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and influenza.

OBJECTIVE:
To analyze the complicated experience that is adolescence including risk behavior, healthcare utilization, parental attitudes and clinician bias so as to inform the development of strategies and tactics that break down barriers to prevention through immunization.

METHOD:
A MEDLINE search was performed for the period of 1995-2003. Demographic and health care statistics were compiled from the U.S. Census, the CDC website, and governmentally sponsored studies. Information was gleaned from various adolescent-related sources as the Alan Guttmacher Institute and the National Assembly of School-Based Health Care. Commercial market research was studied, including but not limited to Oxy brand market studies and proprietary market surveys from Teen Research Unlimited.

RESULT:
Adolescents often do not perceive the threat of or their susceptibility to [vaccine preventable] diseases nor do they comprehend the benefits of preventive action. Parents struggle stewarding their rapidly maturing children and look to a healthcare system that sometimes seems better prepared for those at the ages precedent and subsequent to Adolescence. Together these factors represent important and unique challenges in protecting Adolescents from vaccine preventable diseases.

CONCLUSION:
Immunization is a vital tool in disease prevention throughout the lifespan. While routine childhood vaccination has been importantly successful, adolescent immunization pales in comparison. Until this unique population and this complex phase in human development is better understood, those age 10 and older remain subject to the unnecessary risk of vaccine preventable diseases.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To comprehend the behavioral risks and support system issues that currently threaten adolescents, and begin to think differently to better serve this vulnerable group.