CHILDHOOD VACCINES - In case you weren’t aware –this week was national Infant Immunization Week- an effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to highlight the importance of protecting children age 2 years and younger from vaccine-preventable disease. Every parent wants a healthy child but when it comes to getting them vaccinated, there’s a lot of misinformation that can cause confusion for moms and dads.
Dr. Randall White, Jr is a pediatrician with Willis-Knighton Health System – WK Preferred Pediatrics at the Bossier Campus. He says parents should understand that vaccines have a great track record for safety and in preventing serious illness in children and adults.
“Vaccinations I think are one of the greatest medical marvels that we’ve experienced over the last century and a half. And that along with antibiotics have prevented millions and millions of death and disease,” White said.
There are 14 diseases that Dr. White says that vaccines are have greatly reduced or even eliminated. And unless you’re of a certain age, you likely won’t appreciate just how deadly some of them can be.
“Some of the ones that just stick out as can be very deadly and serious, different bacteria that can cause serious blood infections such as pneumococcal bacteria, also the meningitis bacteria,” White said. ”People forget about chicken pox, things like measles, rubella, childhood diseases that traditionally most children got that we’ve limited incidence and prevalence of through vaccination.”
And when was the last time you saw a child with polio? Thanks to worldwide vaccine programs, polio is quite rare except for in 3rd world countries where public health resources are scarce. And if a parent still has lingering doubts or concerns about getting their children vaccinated, Dr. White recommends getting with their pediatrician and asking about recommended vaccines, even if they’ve missed a few.
“We are always more than happy to answer questions and we love to get people the right information and get them protected against these very serious diseases,” White said.
Another recommended resource is the CDC’s website: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ , where you can see recommended vaccines by age.
