New Advice For Parents To Keep Kids Healthy

The American Academy of Pediatrics is making new recommendations regarding immunizations.

This month’s issue of Pediatrics reports the academy advises parents to get boys between nine and 18 vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV can cause cervical cancer in women and genital warts in both genders. It’s most often spread through sexual contact. Before now, doctors only recommended the HPV vaccine to girls and young women.

Other recommendations in the updated guidelines:

--All children between 6 months and 18 years should get an annual flu shot.

--Around age 16, teenagers need a booster shot to protect against meningococcal meningitis.

--All children and teenagers should have whooping cough vaccines due to recent outbreaks.

FYI: You can see a recommended vaccination schedule for each age group on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website <http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm>.