Kids may not be thinking about going back to school, but this is a good time to get caught up on required immunizations, according to officials at the Barton County Health Department.
Adults who spend a lot of time around children should also consider immunization, for the safety of the children, said Lily Akings, Director of the Health Department.
Schools and preschools require that children receive certain vaccines before they come to class. According to Melissa Hagerman, the Registered Nurse in charge of the immunization program, 81 percent of the children seen at the Barton County Health Department are current on their vaccinations. The state average of 64.1 percent in 2011 was comparable to the national average.
Akings said the Health Department has seen a recent decrease in the number of vaccinations administered, but she attributes that to the growing number of options available to the public. School immunizations are now available at Clara Barton Hospital, the Great Bend Children’s Clinic, St. Joseph Family Medicine and even Walgreen’s. In 2012, the Barton County Health Department administered 3,480 immunizations to all ages. In 2011, the department administered 3,864 immunizations and in 2010 it administered 4,938. There was a spike to 7,589 in 2009, the year of the H1N1 influenza pandemic. In 2008 and 2007, it was back in the 4,400 range.
While spreading news about a danger such as H1N1 can save lives, misinformation can be dangerous. Akings commented on a 1998 study that was later debunked, which claimed to show a link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. The erroneous MMR-autism connection has also been promoted by model/actress Jenny McCarthy, who will become a co-host on ABC’s “The View” in September.
“They just do not find any link between the MMR vaccine and autism,” Akings said. “But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said, ‘Thanks to vaccines, many diseases that once killed thousands of U.S. children have been eliminated or are near extinction.”
The CDC also reports that the diseases still exist and can once again become common if vaccination coverage does not occur at high levels.
For 2013-2014, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommends the following immunizations for school entry. Detailed information on the number of doses and age requirements are listed on the Kansas Certificate of Immunization, which can be downloaded at http://www.kdheks.gov/immunize/download/KCI_Form.pdf.
• Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTaP)
• Poliomyelitis (IPV/OPV)
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella
• Hepatitis B
• Varicella (chickenpox)
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
• Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV)
• Hepatitis A
In addition to the immunizations listed above, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends all children older than 6 months receive yearly influenza vaccinations, as well as the Meningococcal (MCV4) vaccine at 11 years with a booster dose at 16 years of age; and three doses of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine at 11 years of age.
“You can go to your doctor or come here, Hagerman said. The health department takes walk-in and is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fridays, and 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays