Physicians' role in improving adolescent vaccination rates.

O ver the course of human history, innumerable advances have been made to extend the length and quality of life. It would be difficult to debate the fact that vaccines have saved more lives than any other medical intervention in the past century. Sanitation, especially clean water, may have saved more lives than any other intervention, but sanitation has been mainly in the hands of engineers. Physicians and other health care practitioners, with the help of educators, are responsible for saving millions of lives by vaccinating patients, perhaps as many as 6 million per year. Dr Craig discloses that he has conducted research with sanofi-aventis on the topic of the tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine. vaccination requirements, I believe few adolescents would be vaccinated. Even with state requirements, a large percentage of adolescents go unvaccinated. For example, the percentage of adolescents (aged 13-17 years) receiving the tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine varied from 53.5% in Mississippi to 96.3% in New Hampshire. 4 The variance was even greater for the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, with 37.5% of adolescents receiving the vaccine in Arkan-sas and 94.3% receiving it in Rhode Island. 4 Adherence to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is even lower, perhaps reflecting social and religious issues interfering with vaccination and leading states to resist making the vaccine mandatory.