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Vaccination Education
By Jackie Douge
As parents we
try our hardest to do what is best for our children. We take them to
school, we
clothe and shelter them. But there is an even more important thing we do
for them; we take them to the doctor to make sure they are healthy. Part
of making our kids healthy is getting them their vaccinations.
Vaccinations are an important defense to keeping our kids healthy by
preventing diseases. Many of the diseases that kill the world’s children
are preventable. Why should children die of measles and chickenpox, if
they are preventable?
Most states require children be vaccinated
before entering school. Medical technology’s expansion has lead to the
development of more vaccinations developed to fight diseases. Therefore
more vaccinations are given to children today than in the past. Most
children by the age of two will have gotten as many as nineteen shots.
Though this seems like a lot of shots, these vaccinations are scheduled
over months and given at various times. By age two children receive
vaccinations against hepatitis, chickenpox, measles, mump, rubella,
diphtheria (whooping cough), tetanus, pneumonia and meningitis.
Vaccinations are important to protecting your children and the communities
in which we live. Let me make this clear, kids can and do die of
pneumonia, chickenpox, meningitis and measles. No one believes their
child will get sick but with the world is smaller. When people from other
countries and even citizens of the United States do not get vaccinated,
this places your child at risk of getting diseases.
Many parents may be skeptics about vaccinating
their children. Some parents have religious or medical reasons for not
being vaccinated. Others have philosophical reasons for not getting
vaccines. Some feel that they want their children to acquire immunity to
a disease naturally and others do not like foreign chemicals in their
bodies. Medical and religious exemptions are allowed if a parent refuses
vaccines. I recommend that you check with your local health department
and Board of Education to find out what is allowable.
The United States has improved
immunization rates. But there exists differences between racial and ethnic
groups. According to CDC data Black-Non Hispanics overall rate of the
required vaccinations was about 74% compared to White-Non Hispanic rate of
83%.1
The difference in immunization rates may be
due to lack of health insurance or not having health care provider. Many
African-Americans lack adequate access to healthcare. There are some
insurances that do not pay for vaccines. Some parents do not have a
regular health care provider to inform them of scheduled vaccinations.
As a child is entering school many families discover that their child
needs vaccines. For those with insurance problems many of the local health
departments provide vaccines free of charge or for a small fee.
Vaccinations are needed to prevent disease
today. Some kids do have reactions to vaccines. Most side effects are
fever, rash and discomfort at the site of injection. Though kids get many
vaccines at one time their bodies are able to handle it and do well. I
strongly recommend that you speak to your pediatrician or family doctor
about the benefits and side effects of vaccinations. Your doctor will let
you know what your child needs.
These are some websites for parents with
further questions about vaccinations and side effects:
American Academy of Pediatrics-
www.aap.org
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention-
www.cdc.gov
American Medical Association-
www.ama-assn.org
Vaccine Education Center at The
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia-
www.vaccine.chop.edu
National Network for Immunization
Information (NNII)
-
www.immunizationinfo.org
Reference:
Estimated
Vaccination Coverage* with Individual Vaccines and Vaccination Series
Among Children 19-35 Months of Age by Race/Ethnicity† -- US, National
Immunization Survey, Q3/2003-Q2/2004, Centers for Disease Control
Jackie Douge is a board certified
pediatrician and the mother of three.
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