LiveSmart: Time to Update Kids’ Recommended Vaccinations

[This piece was written by Mark Osborn, MD, Chief of Pediatrics for St. Peter’s Hospital, with St. Peter’s Children’s Health Center.]

With kids heading back to school in just a few short weeks, now is the time to think about back-to-school supplies, maybe getting some new sneakers, and ensuring your child is up-to-date on their vaccines.

New York state law requires all students entering school grades kindergarten through 12 to be vaccinated, or to have a valid waiver, for the following:

• Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis Booster (DTap for kindergartners, TdaP when the child turns 10)
• Polio (IPV or OPV)
• Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR)
• Hepatitis A & B
• Varicella (Chickenpox)

The meningitis vaccine is also recommended for children at age 11, with a second meningitis vaccine at the age of 16. The vaccine is a must, especially for students thinking about heading off to college or a U.S. basic military training center.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also recommends children get the HPV vaccine to protect against the human papillomavirus. The latest data suggests children can begin receiving the vaccine as early as nine, with two doses providing the necessary protection.

Parents should discuss vaccine updates with their child’s pediatrician at every annual well child visit, as the recommendations from the AAP change annually.

It is important to remember:

• Vaccines are safer and more effective today than ever before. One reason is the naturally occurring additives that help sterilize vaccine fluids.
• While children today are getting more vaccinations than in the past, the overall amount of immunologic agents in these vaccines is smaller. Two shots given to children in 1980 had more immunologic agents than the antigens in the entire childhood vaccination series given today.
• Delaying vaccinations — or spreading them out over time — increases the risk of exposing your child to a serious and possibly life-altering illness.
• Vaccines don’t weaken the immune system; they boost it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an analysis of the childhood immunization schedule that revealed following the recommended vaccination timeframe will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years.

Parents should heed the advice of their pediatricians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. More information about the need to keep children on schedule for routine vaccinations is at www.aap.org/immunization.

St. Peter’s Children’s Health Center, 1092 Madison Avenue, Albany, offers a complete range of services for children from newborns to age 18. Services include well-child routine care, sick child exams, school and camp physicals, sports physicals, immunizations, health maintenance and education, and access to other hospital services and referrals to specialists. Call 518-525-2445 for more information or an appointment.