News you can use
News you can use
Guest columnist
Immunizations are vital to our children people
Bridget Kallenberger. Hill Co. Health Dept.
Thank you, Juanita Campbell for highlighting the importance of vaccinations in your letter to the editor.
Montana, the last best place, is unfortunately also last in the country in childhood immunizations. A century ago, few effective measures existed to prevent infectious diseases which were widely prevalent and took an enormous toll in the United States. In Montana in 1953, 253 cases of polio were reported (on average, five cases each week), and in 1962, 8,500 cases of measles (on average 23 cases per day) were reported. During the 20th century, strategic use of vaccine virtually eliminated previously common diseases, including tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, and by the end of the century, Haemophilis influenza type b meningitis. Because use of these vaccines prevents thousands of childhood deaths and many times more severe illnesses every year, clinicians and parents are urged to be sure that children are vaccinated.
Vaccines are victims of their own success. Today's parents are unfamiliar with the disease they prevent, and unfortunately these diseases are alive and well in the world even if they are not occurring in Hill County. As a public health professional, I would like to read headlines that include:
• No vaccine-preventable diseases happened today," or
• Billions of dollars saved in medical costs due to vaccines preventing disease," or perhaps
• One less parent grieves the death of a pertussis-affected baby."
Regardless of the headlines we will not see, we must continue to educate about the need to vaccinate children on time, every time. Parents are concerned that Thimerosal (a type of mercury) contributed to an increase in autism rates. Although mercury was removed from all children's vaccines in 2001, some parents are still led to believe vaccines can cause autism. No correlation has been made between vaccines and autism.
Parents also worry that multiple vaccines given during a medical visit can strain a children's immune system. However, the germs a child picks up by sucking on the handle of a shopping cart while being wheeled around a grocery store is going to cause a greater immune response than multiple vaccinations. It is very important for parents to become educated about vaccines so they can make thoughtful and informed decisions for their children. No one wants to see children become ill or die from a preventable disease.
Hill County Health Department urges parents to check their children's immunization records to ensure they are up to date for disease protection. Low immunization rates can lead to a greater risk of children contracting and becoming seriously ill from preventable diseases. With our low vaccination rate we have been pretty lucky so far because we are just a plane ride away from having an outbreak.
To improve vaccine rates, local health care professionals have formed the Hill Immunization Team last spring. The team has activities underway to improve the childhood immunization rates in Hill County by collaborating to intensify efforts to achieve higher vaccination rates. Some of these activities include:
• Enforcing administrative rules related to immunization requirements for children in day care and schools;
• Ensuring all local health care providers are utilizing the state immunization registry correctly;
• Utilizing every opportunity to immunize children; and
• Expanding access to immunizations.
As a parent or grandparent you might be asking yourself, "What can I do about this?"
Grandparents can ask if their grandchildren have received all of their age-appropriate vaccines. Make it a family event and join them on their next trip to receive vaccines. Who knows you might need a current tetanus vaccine yourself. All adults need a tetanus every 10 years. Parents can call the health department to see if their children are up to date and also ask their medical provider anytime they have an appointment.
To make vaccination as easy and economical as possible, the state purchases children's vaccines and distributes them to vaccine providers, to use for children that qualify. There is an administration fee for the vaccines, but no child (18 years old or younger) are denied vaccines if a parent cannot afford to pay the administration fee. You can receive these vaccines at the Hill County Health Department.
Immunizations are one thing every parent can do to give their children good health.
Bridget Kallenberger, LPN is a public health nurse with the Hill County Health Department.
s. Make it a family event and join them on their next trip to receive vaccines. Who knows you might need a current tetanus vaccine yourself. All adults need a tetanus every 10 years. Parents can call the health department to see if their children are up to date and also ask their medical provider anytime they have an appointment.
To make vaccination as easy and economical as possible, the state purchases children's vaccines and distributes them to vaccine providers, to use for children that qualify. There is an administration fee for the vaccines, but no child (18 years old or younger) are denied vaccines if a parent cannot afford to pay the administration fee. You can receive these vaccines at the Hill County Health Department.
Immunizations are one thing every parent can do to give their children good health.
(Bridget Kallenberger, LPN is a public health nurse with the Hill County Health Department.)
Thank you, Juanita Campbell for highlighting the importance of vaccinations in your letter to the editor.
Montana, the last best place, is unfortunately also last in the country in childhood immunizations. A century ago, few effective measures existed to prevent infectious diseases which were widely prevalent and took an enormous toll in the United States. In Montana in 1953, 253 cases of polio were reported (on average, five cases each week), and in 1962, 8,500 cases of measles (on average 23 cases per day) were reported. During the 20th century, strategic use of vaccine virtually eliminated previously common diseases, including tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, and by the end of the century, Haemophilis influenza type b meningitis. Because use of these vaccines prevents thousands of childhood deaths and many times more severe illnesses every year, clinicians and parents are urged to be sure that children are vaccinated.
Vaccines are victims of their own success. Today's parents are unfamiliar with the disease they prevent, and unfortunately these diseases are alive and well in the world even if they are not occurring in Hill County. As a public health professional, I would like to read headlines that include:
Regardless of the headlines we will not see, we must continue to educate about the need to vaccinate children on time, every time. Parents are concerned that Thimerosal (a type of mercury) contributed to an increase in autism rates. Although mercury was removed from all children's vaccines in 2001, some parents are still led to believe vaccines can cause autism. No correlation has been made between vaccines and autism.
Parents also worry that multiple vaccines given during a medical visit can strain a children's immune system. However, the germs a child picks up by sucking on the handle of a shopping cart while being wheeled around a grocery store is going to cause a greater immune response than multiple vaccinations. It is very important for parents to become educated about vaccines so they can make thoughtful and informed decisions for their children. No one wants to see children become ill or die from a preventable disease.
Hill County Health Department urges parents to check their children's immunization records to ensure they are up to date for disease protection. Low immunization rates can lead to a greater risk of children contracting and becoming seriously ill from preventable diseases. With our low vaccination rate we have been pretty lucky so far because we are just a plane ride away from having an outbreak.
To improve vaccine rates, local health care professionals have formed the Hill Immunization Team last spring. The team has activities underway to improve the childhood immunization rates in Hill County by collaborating to intensify efforts to achieve higher vaccination rates. Some of these activities include:
As a parent or grandparent you might be asking yourself, "What can I do about this?"
Grandparents can ask if their grandchildren have received all of their age-appropriate vaccines. Make it a family event and join them on their next trip to receive vaccines. Who knows you might need a current tetanus vaccine yourself. All adults need a tetanus every 10 years. Parents can call the health department to see if their children are up to date and also ask their medical provider anytime they have an appointment.
To make vaccination as easy and economical as possible, the state purchases children's vaccines and distributes them to vaccine providers, to use for children that qualify. There is an administration fee for the vaccines, but no child (18 years old or younger) are denied vaccines if a parent cannot afford to pay the administration fee. You can receive these vaccines at the Hill County Health Department.
Immunizations are one thing every parent can do to give their children good health.
Bridget Kallenberger, LPN is a public health nurse with the Hill County Health Department.
s. Make it a family event and join them on their next trip to receive vaccines. Who knows you might need a current tetanus vaccine yourself. All adults need a tetanus every 10 years. Parents can call the health department to see if their children are up to date and also ask their medical provider anytime they have an appointment.
To make vaccination as easy and economical as possible, the state purchases children's vaccines and distributes them to vaccine providers, to use for children that qualify. There is an administration fee for the vaccines, but no child (18 years old or younger) are denied vaccines if a parent cannot afford to pay the administration fee. You can receive these vaccines at the Hill County Health Department.
Immunizations are one thing every parent can do to give their children good health.
Bridget Kallenberger, LPN is a public health nurse with the Hill County Health Department.
Reader Comments(0)