How Not to Get Sick

Adolescence 13-18

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At the Doctor's Office

By TIFFANY SHARPLES

Michael A. Keller / Corbis

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"Adolescents should have yearly checkups," says Dr. Michael Weitzman, a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at NYU's Langone Medical Center. They should also update their inoculations — including a tetanus booster, the annual flu vaccine and, especially for college-bound kids, the meningitis vaccine. Additionally, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that teenage girls have their first gynecologic visit when they are 13 to 15, and if they haven't done so yet, get the human papillomavirus vaccine.

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