Make Immunizations a Priority for Back-to-School

You have the power to protect your child against serious diseases like measles, whooping cough and cancers caused by HPV by following the CDC’s vaccination schedule for children.

Whether your child is heading to school for the first time or even going off to college, put immunizations at the top of your “back to school” to-do list. Check with your child’s health care provider to make sure they are up to date on proper immunizations for their age.

Here’s the CDC’s vaccine recommendations for school-aged children:

4-6 year olds: might need additional rounds of certain vaccines below plus the flu vaccine every year.

• Chickenpox (varicella) vaccine
• Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough) (DTaP) vaccine
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine
• Polio (IPV) vaccine

11-18 year olds: need 3 vaccines plus the flu vaccine to protect against serious diseases.

• Meningococcal conjugate vaccine to protect against meningitis and bloodstream infections
• HPV vaccine to protect against cancers caused by HPV
• Tdap vaccine to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 two-dose vaccine is now also approved for children 12 and older.
 

How do vaccines work?
Vaccines are tested and monitored to ensure they are safe and effective. Vaccines work with your child’s natural defenses to help them develop protection from diseases. They can sometimes cause side effects, which are normally mild and go away quickly.

Why are vaccines so important?

• The CDC’s childhood immunization schedule is designed to provide immunity early in life, before children are likely to be exposed to serious, potentially life-threatening diseases.
• Some diseases no longer exist in the U.S. because of vaccination.
• If we stopped vaccinating, the few cases we have could very quickly become hundreds of thousands of cases. Example – the 2019 measles outbreak reminds us how quickly diseases can spread when children aren’t vaccinated.
• Some vaccine-preventable diseases like chickenpox and pertussis (whooping cough), are still common in the U.S., and 10,000-50,000 cases of whooping cough are reported in the U.S. each year.

Check out the CDC’s parent-friendly immunization schedule to see which vaccines your child needs.

Put immunizations at the top of your to-do list! Schedule a visit for your child with a
North Oaks Primary Care provider in Hammond, Independence or Livingston.

Call (985) 236-0526 to schedule an appointment or request one online at www.northoaks.org/pcp.