Education Law

The Back to School List

When getting children ready to go back to school, buying supplies, books, and clothes is at the top of the list. Those are definitely things children need in order to be ready for school. But Board Buzz wants to remind everyone that, in order for children to be ready to learn, they also need to be healthy. Part of that process includes getting immunized.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), immunization is one of the most significant public health achievements of the 20th century. Why? Because vaccines have significantly reduced the number of several debilitating and life-threatening diseases including smallpox, polio, and rubella, among others. But despite those accomplishments, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. still die from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Preventing a disease is always better than having to treat it, and, although vaccines have proven to be effective as a large-scale prevention endeavor, recently there have been many controversies and fallacies surrounding them. Some parents of autistic children believe vaccines could be the cause of their children?s condition. And some parents and communities have concerns that the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which is intended to prevent some forms of cervical cancer, will be a gateway to teenagers becoming sexually active and have also questioned its safety. In addition, there are common misconceptions related to vaccines. For instance, some people believe diseases had already begun to disappear before vaccines were introduced because of better hygiene and sanitation.

Those and other factors have contributed to a rise in the number of parents who don?t want their children to get vaccinated. The CDC states, however, that getting immunized is a lifelong, life-protecting community effort regardless of age, sex, race, ethnic background or country of origin. Nevertheless, many vaccines are of discretionary nature, and parents should always receive credible information concerning any vaccine?s safety and possible side effects.

According to the CDC, children are particularly vulnerable to infection; therefore, most vaccines should be given during the first five to six years of life. However, the CDC also recommends that pre-teens and adolescents also get immunized for the following: the Tdap, the MCV4, and the HPV vaccine, for girls.

In addition, if a virus like influenza spreads within a community, it can cause many children to miss school days as well as generate loss of productivity within the school community. The CDC recently released recommendations for the prevention and control of the flu including: 1) the annual influenza vaccination be administered to all children aged 5-18 years and 2) the annual influenza vaccination of all children aged 6 months through 4 years continue to be a primary focus of vaccination efforts because these children are at higher risk for influenza complications compared with older children.

Remember: healthy kids = better learners!

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).