Public health center offers vaccinations for students

Charles Hartline III prepared for the start of his eighth-grade year, as well as his first year playing football, by getting a physical exam and up-to-date on vaccinations Friday at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center.

Charles, of Cape Girardeau, wore a brave face as a registered nurse administered the vaccine. Afterward, Charles said the shot wasn't so bad and went to get his physical.

"He's grown out of the hurting phase," said his father, Charles Hartline II.

As area school districts prepare for their first day of classes next week, the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center is offering opportunities for students to receive their vaccinations.

Jane Wernsman, director of the health center, said nurses will be at the Cape Girardeau and Jackson eighth-grade registration days, both Thursday, administering Tdap vaccinations. The vaccine protects recipients from tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (pertussis).

The health department also will have an immunization clinic Aug. 10 and will be open until 6 p.m.

Wernsman said parents should call to schedule an appointment, and the clinic also welcomes calls from anyone needing an immunization.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August is National Immunization Awareness Month and highlights the value of immunization for people of all ages.

Schools are a prime venue for transmitting vaccine-preventable diseases, according to the health center, and school-age children can spread diseases to their families and others they contact.

The health center said newborns too young to have received the maximum protection from the recommended doses of vaccines or people with weakened immune systems from health conditions are at a higher risk for disease.

"Make sure your child is adequately immunized, depending on what grade they're going into," Wernsman said. "It is for their protection. Let's say there were an outbreak or incidents or cases of something that could've been prevented by the vaccine. If they've not been vaccinated, they will be excluded from school until their incubation time could be over."

Current childhood vaccines protect against serious and potentially life-threatening diseases, including polio, measles, whooping cough and chickenpox, according to the CDC.

"Thanks to vaccines, most of these diseases have become rare in the United States," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "But many still exist here, and they can make children very sick, leading to many days of missed school, missed work for parents and even hospitalization and death."

In 2012, more than 48,000 cases of whooping cough were reported in the United States. During that time, 20 deaths were reported -- the majority being children younger than 3 months of age, the CDC reported.

"Without vaccines, these numbers would be much, much higher," Schuchat said. "That's why kids still need vaccines."

For more information about immunzation schedules, visit health.mo.gov/living/wellness/immunizations or cdc.gov/vaccines.

klamb@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

1121 Linden St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.