Is your child up to date with required vaccines?
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – Doctors say getting timely vaccines are all about keeping everyone healthy.
Families like the Montone’s make sure their two young children get the shots they need.
Dad, Chris Montone says, “There’s definitely, it’s not a chance worth taking ‘not’ vaccinating. We think it’s something you should do, just protect your kids as much as you can.”
Dr. Ronald Angoff with Pediatric & Medical Associates – is also a member of the Connecticut Department of Public Health Vaccine Advisory Committee.
He says, “No vaccine is 100% effective so that even if everybody else is vaccinated, there still maybe a case and your kid gets it.”
If your child regularly visits a doctor, chances are they are up-to-date. Prior to Kindergarten, four boosters are required – polio, Tdap, chicken pox, and measles, mumps, and rubella; but they are usually combined into two shots.
Before 7th grade – two more – the Tdap booster and one for four strains of meningitis.
There’s a meningitis booster before heading to college. A newly developed type B meningitis vaccine is not recommended – despite a few recent cases at some universities – including Yale.
“It’s really people with underlying immunological problems that need it, if there were an outbreak,” says Dr. Angoff.
The flu vaccine is not required unless your student attends preschool or daycare. This year though, the nasal flu spray is not recommended by the FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“We were hopeful,” says Dr. Angoff, “that it would work well. It came out several years ago but for the last three years, it just didn’t work well.”
Also not required but highly recommended – the HPV vaccine.
He says, “It’s a vaccine that prevents cancer. If we were to vaccinate all adolescent boys and girls in this country, we would probably prevent 25-30 thousand cases of cancer a year.”
Cancers that can be sexually and non-sexually transmitted. Dr. Angoff stresses – vaccines keep children healthy and protect them from preventable diseases.
Pediatric & Medical Associates has two locations – New Haven and Cheshire. For more information -log onto www.pmapc.com. You can call New Haven at 203-865-3737 or Cheshire at 203-271-1541.