Submitted by Thurston County Health Department
Summer break has ended and another school year is underway. The long lists of school supplies have been purchased and new clothing has replaced what kids outgrew over the summer. Despite buying several bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizer for the classroom and teaching your child to wash their hands regularly and cover their cough, there seems little we can do to stop the inevitable rise of illness that comes with the start of a new school year!
Even with precautionary measures, there’s a good chance that your child will catch a virus and bring it home to you and the rest of your family in the next couple of months. This is partly because certain viruses are more active in the fall, and partly because kids haven’t developed immunity to many viruses yet, so they trade them back and forth and bring them home to share. So, what can you do to keep your children and family healthy?
Your first line of defense against a number of illnesses is immunization. News about pertussis (whooping cough) and measles outbreaks in our state remind us that vaccine-preventable diseases are still around, which underscores the importance of keeping your child’s immunizations up-to-date. Schools in Washington State require written proof of immunization or a physician-signed waiver. Immunizations required for the 2014-15 school year include:
- Hepatitis B
- DTaP/DT/Td/Tdap – Immunity from Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis
- Polio
- MMR – Measles, Mumps, and Rubella
- Varicella – or verification the child has had the disease (chicken pox)
Yearly seasonal influenza (flu) vaccines are also recommended for children starting at age six months (don’t forget to get yours too).
According to the Washington State Department of Health, two of the nine school districts in Thurston County, reported immunization exemption rates between 10 to 20 percent during the 2012-2013 school year. This means that these districts have less “community immunity” to vaccine-preventable diseases and are more likely to be impacted in the event of an outbreak. Community immunity helps keep diseases from spreading.
Several options exist today for getting your child vaccinated, making it pretty convenient.
- Children can get their immunizations at their regular health care provider’s office.
- Several pharmacies in our community offer immunizations. Details vary so inquire ahead of time regarding cost, insurance, which vaccines are available and the ages of children that they will vaccinate.
- Thurston County Medical Reserve Corps and Group Health Cooperative will offer a no-cost clinic for school-required immunizations and influenza vaccination on Saturday, September 20. The clinic will be at Group Health Olympia, 700 Lilly Rd NE, from 9:00 a.m. until noon. The clinic is open to all children—not just Group Health members. For more information please visit the Thurston County Health Department web site at: www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/.
If your child does get sick, keep them home from school and daycare until they are no longer contagious. If we all work together, we can make this the happiest and healthiest school year ever!
For more information, follow Thurston County Health Department on Twitter (@ThurstonHealth) or Facebook.
