Is your child really immunized?
Introduction
Your toddler might be improperly vaccinated, even if she’s had every immunization the government recommends…
2/5 stars (rated 3 times)
A quarter of kids not properly vaccinated
More than one child in four is out of compliance with US vaccination guidelines, say researchers at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Missed doses account for two-thirds of vaccine lapses, but the study also revealed that some children get their shots too early – for example, around 3% percent of children had their last hepatitis B vaccines prior to age 6 months, the minimum recommended for that immunization. Other toddlers received their first measles vaccine while their mother’s antibodies still protected them, in effect wasting that dose. Another lapse – getting serial doses too close together – affects 3% of children. Most parents will attest to the fact that the number of shots required means it can be a logistical nightmare to have their children vaccinated on time every time.
Delayed or mis-timed immunization puts children at risk of several vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, mumps and chickenpox
Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease have been in the news lately. Were missed doses or mis-timed doses an issue? In these cases, the problem was children who had received no vaccinations whatsoever, says Jane Seward, deputy director of the Division of Viral Diseases in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “During recent measles outbreaks in San Diego, Arizona, and Wisconsin, all cases have occurred among individuals who hadn’t received any measles vaccine,” Seward says.
Some of the children affected were too young to have been immunized but some cases if illness occurred among children whose parents had chosen not to have them vaccinated because of religious beliefs or because they don’t feel vaccines are safe. The fact that some children go unvaccinated may also partly reflect the fact that parents no longer have much knowledge about the effects of the diseases their child’s immunizations protect against and underestimate their seriousness.
The US public school system generally requires that children complete their immunization schedule before enrollment and it’s possible children who received a mis-timed dose missed doses will need to have the shot again.
The study appears in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Supernanny Team
Related Links
- Protect your child against flu New research shows that getting your child immunized against the virus doesn’t only protect him – it can prevent the whole family from getting ill.
- Immunization and your child No parent likes to see their child sick – and immunizing them against infectious diseases can protect them from serious diseases. But what if you have doubts?