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Guest Column

Immunize this month for health

By Lilya "Vee" Dayton
Published August 15, 2006

Here it is August, the month that the National Partnership for Immunization usually designates as National Immunization Awareness Month.

School has started, and students, teachers and parents should be aware that immunizations either need to be updated, or begun in some cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, www.CDC.gov, has information and recommendations on all vaccines. Your physician and health department also are reservoirs of knowledge.

Tallahassee's Bureau of Immunization's mission is to promote and protect the health of all children and adults in Florida. This is done through the reduction and eventual elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases through immunization.

All health departments offer free required vaccinations to all school-age children. Also, our health department offers vaccinations of all types.

The National Partnership for Immunization and the CDC are working to increase immunization awareness among parents, children and seniors. It behooves each of us to keep ourselves free of vaccine-preventable diseases.

The new emergence of problems with pertussis (whooping cough) has prompted the scientific community to look at the possibility of adding pertussis to all tetanus shots. Recommendations are forthcoming regarding its inclusion.

Always be aware that vaccines are tested and monitored for safety and efficacy. They are licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, which requires they be tested for both. This process can take 10 years or longer. Once the vaccine is in use, the CDC and FDA monitor its side effects through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

Any hint of a problem with a vaccine prompts further investigations by the CDC and FDA.

If researchers find a vaccine might be causing a side effect, the CDC and FDA will initiate actions appropriate to the nature of the problem, and could, in some cases, withdraw recommendations for use of the vaccine or revoke the vaccine's license.

Local physicians and the health department are available to meet the public's need for immunizations. Let's make 2006-2007 a banner time for continued prevention of childhood diseases and for prevention of flu, pneumonia and tetanus in seniors.

Lilyan "Vee" Dayton is a senior community health nurse at the Pasco County Health Department.

[Last modified August 15, 2006, 07:01:48]