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Adolescents

Vaccination is a key public health measure that helps reduce infections from serious diseases. Disease related disability and death is also decreased by vaccination. Adolescents may pass on infectious diseases to others through direct or indirect contact.

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Key Summary

  • Why it matters: Adolescents can carry and spread serious infectious diseases like meningococcal, pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, and HPV—even if their own illness is mild.
  • School program vaccines (Australia):
    • Year 7: HPV vaccine
    • Year 10: Meningococcal ACWY vaccine
    • Ages 11–13: dTpa booster (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis)
  • Other vaccines:
    • Pneumococcal (for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander teens at age 15)
    • Meningococcal B (funded in SA, QLD, NT)
  • Disease risks:
    • Meningococcal disease – rare but life-threatening; can cause death or long-term disabilities.
    • Diphtheria – produces toxins that can cause paralysis or heart failure.
    • Tetanus – enters through cuts and can cause severe muscle spasms or death.
    • Pertussis (whooping cough) – very contagious; adolescents can pass it to babies who are most at risk.
    • HPV – common sexually transmitted virus; can lead to genital warts and cancers (cervix, anus, mouth, throat).
  • What to do: Ensure your teen is up to date with their school vaccinations and check with your GP about any additional vaccines (e.g., meningococcal B).

About

Adolescents may pass on infectious diseases to other people through direct or indirect contact with them. These diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites or fungi.

A vaccine preventable disease is an infectious disease that can be prevented or have its impact reduced by immunisation.

Recommended Vaccines For Adolescents

In Australia, adolescents are immunised through the school immunisation program with:

  • Meningococcal ACWY in Year 10
  • Pertussis (Whooping Cough) booster due to waning immunity. The optimal age for receiving the booster shot is 11-13 years old, using Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (dTpa vaccine)
  • Human Papilloma Virus in Year 7

Other vaccines for adolescents include:

  • Pneumococcal vaccination – available under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders aged 15 years
  • Meningococcal B – available in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory

Vaccine Preventable Diseases In Adolescents

Meningococcal Disease

Meningococcal disease is transmitted from one person to another by close, prolonged and intimate contact, like living in the same house or kissing. The spread of the disease is through the infected secretions from the back of the nose and throat. The bacteria can only survive a few seconds outside the body so they cannot be picked up from surfaces, swimming pools, buildings or animals. About 1 in 10 people can have meningococcal bacteria in their throat or nose1. These very rarely cause illness but can be transmitted to others who are more susceptible and cause illness in them. Teenagers have the highest carriage rates, peaking in 19-year-olds, and so play an important role in transmission2.

Cause

Meningococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. The most common strains worldwide are A, B, C, W and Y.

How serious is the risk?

Meningococcal is a rare but very serious infection which progresses very quickly. 

Some people may experience permanent brain damage, and 1 in 10 may die3. 

1 in 5 people who recover may have lingering health problems such as3:

  • Skin scarring
  • Limb deformity
  • Limb loss
  • Deafness
  • Impaired vision
  • Learning difficulties4

For more information about Meningococcal Disease, see here.

Diphtheria

Diphtheria can be passed from person to person via respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing. It can also be transmitted by touching the open sores of an infected person.

Diphtheria is rare in Australia due to a school-based vaccination program since the 1930s.

Cause

Diphtheria is an acute illness caused by strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae.

How serious is the risk?

The bacteria can produce a toxin that can cause life threatening heart failure and paralysis. Even with treatment 1 in 10 people with respiratory diphtheria will die5.

Tetanus

Tetanus can be transmitted by spores of tetanus bacteria in the environment, including the soil, dust and manure. They can enter the body through breaks in the skin caused by objects like nails or needles, burns and wounds contaminated with dirt or faeces.

Tetanus is rare in Australia due to high vaccination rates.

Cause

Tetanus (also called lockjaw) is an infection caused by the bacterium called Clostridium tetani.

How serious is the risk?

Serious health problems can occur from tetanus like tightening of the vocal cords, broken bones, blood clots in the lungs and serious lung infections like pneumonia. In Australia, the case fatality rate is 2%6.

Pertussis

Pertussis is highly contagious and only found in humans. It spreads by airborne droplets when an infected person sneezes or coughs. the droplets can be breathed in by others or passed on to others by touching a contaminated surface.

People with pertussis are most infectious in the first three weeks after the onset of symptoms.

Cause

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough is caused by the bacterium bordetella pertussis.

How serious is the risk?

Babies are at greatest risk of severe disease and death from pertussis. Adolescents are a significant reservoir of infection and can transmit pertussis to babies particularly if they are household contacts.

Adolescents may also develop pertussis and have a cough that persists for 3 months.

Severe complications can include pneumonia, lack of oxygen to the brain and death.

For more information about pertussis see here.

HPV

HPV is a common virus that can affect anyone, regardless of biological sex. It is passed from person to person through sexual contact. HPV can stay in the body for years, causing changes to cells that can lead to a wide range of HPV-related cancers and other serious diseases.

Cause

HPV is a highly contagious virus that is transmitted through different forms of sexual contact.

How serious a risk is HPV?

Around 90% of Australians will get human papillomavirus (HPV) at some point in their lives7. HPV can cause genital warts in some people, and different types of HPV can cause cell changes that can lead to cancers8. These include cancers of the cervix, genital area, anus, mouth, and throat9.

For more information about HPV see here.

References

  1. Victoria State Government Better Health Channel Human Papillomavirus Fact Sheet https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/human-papillomavirus-hpv-immunisation Reviewed 05 May 2023)
  2. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Meningococcal Disease Causes and Transmission (page last updated 8 February 2024) Accessed 19 May 2024.
  3. Christensen H. et al. 2010. Meningococcal carriage by age: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infectious Diseases Dec 2010: 853-61.
  4. Know Meningococcal website. knowmenningococcal.com.au (Accessed 26 May 2024)
  5. Victoria State Government. Health and Human Services. Better Health Channel Meningococcal Disease Fact Sheet. Reviewed on 22 March 2024 (Accessed 26 May 2024).
  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Diphtheria: Symptoms [Internet]. Atlanta (GA): CDC; 2023 [cited 2025 May 8]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/symptoms/index.html#:~:text=Even%20with%20treatment%2C%20about%201,%2C%20severe%20disease%2C%20or%20death
  7. Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). Tetanus [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care; 2024 [cited 2025 May 20]. Available from: https://immunisationhandbook.health.gov.au/contents/vaccine-preventable-diseases/tetanus#:~:text=Tetanus%20is%20rare%20in%20Australia,prolonged%20ventilation%20in%20intensive%20care
  8. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS). HPV Factsheet. 2023. Available from: https://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2023-05/HPV%20Factsheet%20May%202023.pdf (Accessed 19 June 2024)
  9. Queensland Health. Genital warts (human papilloma virus [HPV]). Queensland Government. Available from: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/condition/infections-and-parasites/sexually-transmissible-infections/genital-warts-human-papilloma-virus-hpv (Accessed 19 June 2024.)