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Immunization time: Down came the tears


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Down came the tears

08/12/05

Like the beginning of the school year isn't hectic enough, parents have to add to the never ending to do list the appointment with a doctor for the physical exam and to have the immunization record updated to show it at registration in the school.

That's why August is the National Immunization Awareness Month: perfect timing when parents and children prepare for the return to school, and the medical community begins preparations for the upcoming flu season.

The school immunization requirement may vary slightly from one state to another, but there is a national immunization schedule that is the basic guideline for all. Some school districts also require a test for lead poisoning, which is a problem that affects particularly the Hispanic and African American communities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children receive vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, polio and others. Adolescents should be vaccinated against hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal disease, and others that may have been missed earlier. Those recommended for adults include vaccines against influenza, pneumococcal disease, tetanus and diphtheria.

Many clinics in the Washington Metropolitan area offer free or low cost vaccinations to meet the school requirements.

Vaccines are one of history's most successful and cost-effective public health tools for preventing serious disease and death. Diseases that were once common-place, such as polio, measles, mumps, whooping cough, diphtheria, and rubella, are now only distant memories for most Americans. Today, there are few reminders of the suffering, disabilities, and premature deaths caused by diseases that are now preventable with vaccines.

Immunization coverage among children in the United States is the highest ever recorded for most vaccines. High immunization coverage translates into record or near record low levels of vaccine-preventable disease.

Most of today's parents have never seen these diseases and the suffering they can cause and, therefore, are less concerned about the need for immunization compared to other parental priorities. However, these diseases are not diseases of the past. They are still with us and circulating in many parts of the world. Indeed, in Latin America, many kids are still dying of fully preventable diseases.

Since immigrant children are required to be vaccinated against a number of diseases for immigration purposes, and due to the language barriers, and the change of health care providers, some studies have shown that Hispanic children tend to be overimmunized in comparison to white kids.

“A child receiving too many vaccines is not likely to have their health suffer,” said Paul Darden, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), “but there is always the possibility of a bad events such as an allergic reaction to the immunization. The consequences are not profound, but we prefer to give the right amount of vaccines rather than expose a child to risk, albeit a small risk, for no additional benefit.”

It is recommended that parents keep careful written records of their children's vaccinations. Immunization schedules change, and it is important that future health care providers know which immunizations have been given.