Are Your Kids Up To Date?

A new school year is just around the corner, but before the school bus arrives, make sure your kids’ shot records are up to date. Make sure vaccines are on back to school checklists.

A new school year is just around the corner, but before the school bus arrives, make sure your kids’ shot records are up to date.

“Vaccines are great way to prevent diseases,” said Cesar Gerez Martinez, MD, Seton Family of Doctors Plus Express Care at Davis Lane. “They’re what we refer to as primary prevention, to keep people healthy and limit medical costs,” he said. Seton is part of Ascension, the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system.

Gerez Martinez says the vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) offers one of the strongest examples that vaccines work. The Hib vaccine prevents severe infections caused by a type of bacteria that can lead to meningitis, pneumonia and throat infection.

The vaccine was introduced in 1987. By 2000, the number of cases of invasive Hib in children younger than five years of age dropped by 99 percent.

Protect and Prevent

While parents may feel awful watching their little one squirm or even burst into tears with each needle stick, Gerez Martinez recommends parents focus on how they’re helping their child. 

“Before vaccines, many children died from diseases that vaccines now prevent, such as whooping cough, measles, and polio,” he said. “If an unvaccinated child is exposed to a disease the child’s body may not be strong enough to fight it. So by vaccinating your children you’re not just protecting them, but others too.”

Gerez Martinez says age, illness or other risk factors may prevent some people from getting vaccinated, so they rely on herd immunity to help keep them protected. When a large population, or “herd,” is vaccinated, the possibility of spreading preventable diseases decreases. This creates an extra layer of protection for those who are too young or too sick to be vaccinated.  

Vaccines help prevent 16 different diseases, including chicken pox, flu, measles, mumps and polio.

According to Gerez Martinez most people don’t experience side effects from vaccines, but some may experience mild side effects such as fever or soreness where the shot was given. This usually happens within a couple of days of the receiving the vaccine.

Allergic reactions are rare and related to ingredients in the vaccine. Let your doctor know about any allergies your child may have.

Getting those shots doesn’t always mean your child won’t get sick from preventable diseases, but the immunities already built up from the vaccine can help him weather the illness better.

 Back-to-school checklist: which vaccines and when?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends scheduled vaccination to help protect children throughout infancy, childhood, teenage years and beyond.

“The vaccination schedule is designed to protect young children before they are likely to be exposed to potentially serious diseases and when they are most vulnerable to serious infections,” he said. “So delaying your child’s shots could put them at risk.”

The CDC has a list of recommended vaccines through age six. Missed any? Talk to your doctor about a catch-up schedule that is best for your child.

Not just for young children

Vaccines aren’t reserved only for the youngest tots. Preventable illnesses can occur at any age, so it’s important to receive recommended vaccines and booster shots beyond early childhood. 

Gerez Martinez says boosters are needed to build immunity over time, because immunity fades and germs change.

To continue protection against illness, the CDC recommends specific vaccines or boosters for children over age six, teens and adults:

• 7 to 10 years: Children ages seven to 10 years old should get the flu vaccine each year. The HPV vaccine can be given as early as age nine. Talk to your doctor about the right time for your child.
• 11 to 12 years: Eleven and 12-year olds should get the flu shot each year. Meningococcal conjugate, HPV and Tdap vaccines are also recommended for pre-teens.
• 13 to 18 years: Teens also need the flu shot each year, along with a booster dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine at 16 and the serogroup B meningococcal vaccines between 16 and 18 years old.
• Adults 19 years and older: Adults should get a flu shot each year, along with a variety of vaccines and boosters throughout adulthood including hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines.

If you plan to travel internationally, talk to your doctor about what vaccines you may need to keep your family protected. Seton Family of Doctors plus Express Care offers vaccines as well as primary and family care. Flu shots should be available as early as September.

In Texas, Ascension operates Providence Healthcare Network and Seton Healthcare Family, which includes Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and another 120 related clinical facilities that together employ more than 13,000 employees. Across Texas, Ascension provided more than $910 million in community benefit and charity care in fiscal year 2015. Serving Texas for 114 years, Ascension is a faith-based health care organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, operating 2,500 sites of care – including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.seton.net.