Home
News
We all want the same things for our children. We want them to know they are loved; we want them to grow up happy, healthy and safe. To keep them safe, we put them in child-safety seats, install child-proof door latches and teach them to look both ways before crossing the street. To keep them healthy, we dress them warmly, wash their hands and make sure they eat their vegetables. One of the most important things we can do to protect their health is to make sure they are vaccinated.
We are lucky that we live in a time when there are few visible reminders of the suffering, premature deaths and significant disabilities caused by diseases that are now easily preventable with vaccines. Today, there are tens of thousands of children who are alive and healthy but who would have died of infectious diseases before vaccines were available. Most would have died before the age of 2. Few of us have ever seen diseases that once were commonplace. But that wasn't always the case.
For instance, in the 1950s, polio was a national obsession. Parents wouldn't let their children swim or attend summer camp for fear of polio, and nearly everyone knew someone who was disabled by the disease. Thanks to Dr. Jonas Salk's vaccine, polio is a distant, unpleasant memory for most of us.
We have made great progress in protecting our children against disease. We can now protect children from 13 potentially serious vaccine-preventable diseases.
Unfortunately, not all vaccine-preventable diseases have been eradicated from Nevada County, as the recent whooping-cough outbreak demonstrated. Serious diseases are still a threat to our children and community, yet Nevada County's children have the lowest immunization levels in the state: Only 73 percent of those entering kindergarten in 2006 were fully immunized, compared to 93 percent statewide.
The Board of Supervisors, concerned about our low immunization levels, has proclaimed the week of April 21-28 as National Infant Immunization Week in Nevada County. The board knows we must not only protect our children but all citizens - low immunization levels threaten our "community immunity." This week is a perfect time to see if your infant or toddler is up-to-date with immunizations. Immunize your children on time, every time - at birth and at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 15 months of age.
As guardians of the future, we all have a stake in children's health. No child should have to suffer and possibly die from a vaccine-preventable disease. We have the means to protect our nation's children against these terrible diseases, and we must use those means to ensure that no child suffers needlessly.
Parents and health-care providers must work together. Parents should make and keep appointments to ensure their child is up-to-date on all shots. They should become informed consumers and ask questions of their health-care provider. They should keep a record of each immunization visit and ask their health-care provider about their child's shots at every visit, even if they think their child is up-to-date.
Physicians should talk with parents about why immunization is important and answer questions about vaccines' risks and benefits. Every visit should be seen as an opportunity to vaccinate and reminders should be given to parents when immunizations are due.
The Nevada County Department of Public Health will be happy to answer questions about immunization; our phone number is 265-1450. The department's Mobile Services Van offers vaccines for infants and children and can be found behind the Grass Valley Veterans Building, 255 S. Auburn St., every Thursday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Also, check our Web site at www.mynevadacounty.com/ph/index.cfm for our routine and special immunization events. First 5 Nevada County has posted information about immunization on its Web site (first5nevco.org).
The potential is great for a world where all children have a chance for a healthy start to life. But we must remember there was a time, not long ago, when children suffered and died from diseases we can now easily prevent. We must not let that time return. Love and protect our children by vaccinating them on time, every time.
ooo
National Infant Immunization Week, April 21-28, is an annual observance established 13 years ago by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to remind parents, health professionals and the public that children deserve a healthy start to life by immunizing them against vaccine-preventable diseases.
ooo
Joseph Iser, M.D., DrPH, is director of Public Health and the health officer for Nevada County. Cynthia Schuetz, MPH, Ph.D., is a community health education consultant for First 5 Nevada County.
We are lucky that we live in a time when there are few visible reminders of the suffering, premature deaths and significant disabilities caused by diseases that are now easily preventable with vaccines. Today, there are tens of thousands of children who are alive and healthy but who would have died of infectious diseases before vaccines were available. Most would have died before the age of 2. Few of us have ever seen diseases that once were commonplace. But that wasn't always the case.
For instance, in the 1950s, polio was a national obsession. Parents wouldn't let their children swim or attend summer camp for fear of polio, and nearly everyone knew someone who was disabled by the disease. Thanks to Dr. Jonas Salk's vaccine, polio is a distant, unpleasant memory for most of us.
We have made great progress in protecting our children against disease. We can now protect children from 13 potentially serious vaccine-preventable diseases.
Unfortunately, not all vaccine-preventable diseases have been eradicated from Nevada County, as the recent whooping-cough outbreak demonstrated. Serious diseases are still a threat to our children and community, yet Nevada County's children have the lowest immunization levels in the state: Only 73 percent of those entering kindergarten in 2006 were fully immunized, compared to 93 percent statewide.
The Board of Supervisors, concerned about our low immunization levels, has proclaimed the week of April 21-28 as National Infant Immunization Week in Nevada County. The board knows we must not only protect our children but all citizens - low immunization levels threaten our "community immunity." This week is a perfect time to see if your infant or toddler is up-to-date with immunizations. Immunize your children on time, every time - at birth and at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 15 months of age.
As guardians of the future, we all have a stake in children's health. No child should have to suffer and possibly die from a vaccine-preventable disease. We have the means to protect our nation's children against these terrible diseases, and we must use those means to ensure that no child suffers needlessly.
Parents and health-care providers must work together. Parents should make and keep appointments to ensure their child is up-to-date on all shots. They should become informed consumers and ask questions of their health-care provider. They should keep a record of each immunization visit and ask their health-care provider about their child's shots at every visit, even if they think their child is up-to-date.
Physicians should talk with parents about why immunization is important and answer questions about vaccines' risks and benefits. Every visit should be seen as an opportunity to vaccinate and reminders should be given to parents when immunizations are due.
The Nevada County Department of Public Health will be happy to answer questions about immunization; our phone number is 265-1450. The department's Mobile Services Van offers vaccines for infants and children and can be found behind the Grass Valley Veterans Building, 255 S. Auburn St., every Thursday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Also, check our Web site at www.mynevadacounty.com/ph/index.cfm for our routine and special immunization events. First 5 Nevada County has posted information about immunization on its Web site (first5nevco.org).
The potential is great for a world where all children have a chance for a healthy start to life. But we must remember there was a time, not long ago, when children suffered and died from diseases we can now easily prevent. We must not let that time return. Love and protect our children by vaccinating them on time, every time.
ooo
National Infant Immunization Week, April 21-28, is an annual observance established 13 years ago by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to remind parents, health professionals and the public that children deserve a healthy start to life by immunizing them against vaccine-preventable diseases.
ooo
Joseph Iser, M.D., DrPH, is director of Public Health and the health officer for Nevada County. Cynthia Schuetz, MPH, Ph.D., is a community health education consultant for First 5 Nevada County.
