Recent data shows adolescents and teens are not getting the preventive care they need, and this is leading to a resurgence in something that was once eradicated.
“You know our grandparents told us this when we were growing up that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and it certainly rings true today,” said Dr. Daniel Meltzer, Executive Medical Director for Regence.
Dr. Meltzer said he can’t emphasize enough the importance of preventive care.
“I mean, first of all, if you look at the data, people who get preventive care tend to live healthier and live longer,” he said.
The latest numbers show Utah does well when it comes to babies and toddlers but needs to do better for adolescents and teens.
“Not just for physical conditions, whether its growth or development or how their various organs are functioning, height, weight, etcetera, but we also do inquiries around behavioral health challenges and we know Utah for example ranks third highest in the nation for severe major depression, so preventive care helps us address physical conditions, but also behavioral conditions, particularly in teenagers, as well,” said Meltzer.
Nationwide, only 70-percent of children ages 12-17 have had a preventive care visit and that trend is getting worse. Vaccination rates are also decreasing.
“The challenge that we’re seeing now is many diseases which we thought we eliminated, for example, measles in 2000 was declared eliminated, but just over a week ago now we’re seeing over a hundred cases of measles in the United States, which is a highly contagious and devastating disease, which is fully preventable,” said Meltzer.
Meltzer also said it’s important to take advantage of these practices of the past which have helped eliminate many devastating diseases, while also taking advantage of new medical advancements.
“In the last five to ten years we have many scientific breakthroughs where we’re able to immunize children in their teenage years against certain diseases. Human Papilloma Virus which we know can cause cervical and other cancers, takes decades to develop, children can now be fully immunized for,” said Meltzer.
As well as meningococcus – a cause of the potentially fatal meningitis infection, where a two-dose series can help eradicate the threat.
“So, these were at one point diseases we had no prevention for and now we have fantastic prevention for, if we get our kids in for their annual wellness visits,” said Meltzer.
