This is Public Health: Vaccinate your kids now for the coming school year

What do kids entering kindergarten, seventh grade, and college have in common? They all need immunizations! May is the month to get vaccinated for the coming school year.

For children starting kindergarten, the requirement is to get booster shots of MMR, DTaP and IPV. For children entering seventh grade, the requirement is to get a booster Tdap. And for college bound kids, the recommendation is to be vaccinated against Meningitis and Human Papilloma Virus.

What do all these letters mean? MMR stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. Babies usually have their first MMR at one year of age after the immunity from their mother wears off. Since not everyone develops immunity after the first shot, a second one is required before entry to kindergarten. Fact: 17 cases of Measles were diagnosed in Indiana in February and March of this year.

DTaP stands for Diphtheria, Tetanus and acellular Pertussis. Babies get these shots as infants, but don’t have maximum protection until they’re over a year of age. This kindergarten booster nudges their protection a bit higher, however the immunity begins to wane by the time the child is 11 years old, thus the Tdap booster upon entering seventh grade. The less immunized a community is, the more likely pertussis is to infect the infants, who are too young to be fully immunized. Fact: Washington state has had over 1,000 cases of pertussis (or whooping cough) since January, a rate that hasn’t been seen since the 1950s.

IPV (or inactivated polio virus) is the vaccine against polio. It, too, is given to infants, and the booster is given before school when the child’s immune system is slightly more mature. Many of us baby boomers have friends or relatives who suffered from Polio before the vaccine was invented in 1955, and can attest to its devastation. Fact: Five unvaccinated children in Minnesota were infected with polio in 2005.

Meningitis is a condition where the covering of the spinal cord and brain are inflamed. Meningitis caused by bacteria is usually more severe and more infectious than that caused by a virus. Since the risk of contracting the disease is nearly twice as high in young adults between 17 and 21 years of age, especially those who share close living quarters such as a dorm setting, the vaccine is recommended for all college incoming freshman. The meningitis vaccine for adolescents and young adults targets the four most deadly strains of the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. Fact: Nearly 1 in 10 individuals who contract bacterial meningitis die from it.

And last but not least for adolescents, is the HPV, (or Human Papilloma Virus) vaccine. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in this country. This virus is associated with 70 percent of all cervical cancers in the U.S. among women; and with both warts and cancer in the genital region among men. The vaccine is recommended for both males and females, ideally before they become sexually active, to prevent contracting and spreading the virus. Fact: HPV vaccine is one of only two vaccines known to prevent cancer.

Remember: May is the ideal time to get your child immunized for the coming school year, so call your health care provider, Tribal Health, or the Health Department today to schedule an appointment!