Vaccinations aren't just for kids, expert says
A new school year means more than new clothes, new books and a new grade level it also means new shots for millions of public school children.
Many parents get in the rhythm of having their child vaccinated every few months as infants and even annually as a family for the flu, said Dr. Jorge Parada, director of infection prevention and control at Loyola University Health System. Getting regular shots for preventive medicine is a good life lesson to learn, right along with the alphabet and arithmetic.
Primary-care physicians receive updated immunization charts each year. Many also have the required documentation forms needed to provide with schools. Public schools are usually required to receive documentation on required vaccinations for each child no later than one month after school starts.
Grade School Basics
Parents need to remember that almost every one of the required or recommended vaccines comes as a series of shots, to assure that the child builds sufficient immunity to the various infections. Even the first seasons flu shot for a child less than 9 years old requires two doses, and then a single yearly dose, said Dr. Andrew Bonwit, who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at Loyola. Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella are all available as a series. If a child falls behind the standard schedule, his or her pediatrician can plan a catch-up schedule based on standard recommendations, Bonwit said.
College Students
The flu, meningitis and HPV are important vaccinations for college-age adults, Parada said. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is recommended for women and men, ages 26 or younger, to prevent genital warts and cancer. Awareness has been raised for HPV for women, but it is important to know that there is one brand that can be given to men, he said. HPV vaccine is given in three doses over six months.
For Adults
The school calendar can also be a good time for all adults to annually safeguard their health. Flu shots are available as early as Sept. 1, making it a good time to check the charts at your physicians office, Parada said. If you smoke, a pneumonia vaccination is recommended and your physician can advise you on shots based on your health, age and lifestyle.
Financial Coverage
Insurance coverage of recommended vaccinations varies by provider and plan.
Subsidized or even free vaccinations are available for those who qualify, so there is no financial reason to not get vaccines, Parada said. Students may legally opt out of vaccinations if they are allergic, or for religious reasons.
Final Thought
We see some potentially severe, vaccine-preventable illnesses every year, such as whooping cough (pertussis), Bonwit said. Vaccinations protect children from potentially dangerous illnesses and can keep them from needing to be hospitalized.
Vaccines serve two purposes, Parada said. First, they help to keep you protected from catching an illness; and second, they help prevent the illness. Remember that something you dont have, you cant pass along to another, Parada said. So, be smart, be safe, be vaccinated.
For those confused about which vaccinations to get and when, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention offers easy-to-understand charts by age on their Web site at cdc.gov/vaccines
Provided by
Loyola University Health System
-
Mutation in strains make flu a moving target
Aug 04, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Rise in flu, contagious lung infections hit Chicago children
Feb 15, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
The kids are alright
May 26, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Whooping cough vaccine is needed for adults to prevent illness in youngsters
Nov 05, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Early oral health care is important to a child's development
Feb 04, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time
Little is known about the effect of physical education (PE) on child weight, but a new study from Cornell University finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces the probability ...
Health
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children
Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study from researchers in Boston.
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD
People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, ...
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Having a nighttime critical care physician in the ICU doesn't improve patient outcomes, research finds
With little evidence to guide them, many hospital intensive care units (ICUs) have been employing critical care physicians at night with the notion it would improve patients' outcomes. However, new results from a one-year ...
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Study finds air pollution and noise pollution increase cardiovascular risk
Both fine-particle air pollution and noise pollution may increase a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to German researchers who have conducted a large population study, in which both factors were ...
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Study suggests new source of kidneys for transplant
Nearly 20 percent of kidneys that are recovered from deceased donors in the U.S. are refused for transplant due to factors ranging from scarring in small blood vessels of the kidney's filtering units to the organ going too ...
SARS-like virus claims new life in Saudi
A Saudi man who had contracted the coronavirus has died, raising the death toll in the kingdom from the SARS-like virus to 16, the health ministry announced on Monday on its Internet website.
The compound in the Mediterranean diet that makes cancer cells 'mortal'
New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer ...
Study shows how bilinguals switch between languages
(Medical Xpress)—Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona.
Discovery of circadian clock in mice hair reveals period of time when damage from radiotherapy can be quickly repaired
Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock - a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair - researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy ...
Do salamanders hold the solution to regeneration?
Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have ...