August is back-to-school season and it’s also Immunization Awareness Month. But health care workers advise it’s important to remember that vaccinations don’t end with adolescents.
Vaccines are a way to build up immunity to a particular disease by injecting the body with a small amount of a virus or bacteria. Immunization helps slow the spread of a disease, protecting both the patient and others who may have a weaker immune system and can’t get vaccines.
The first vaccination, against smallpox, was performed in 1796 in England. The World Health Assembly declared the disease eradicated in 1980.
Jennifer Mullen, a pediatric doctor of osteopathic medicine at ProMedica, pointed to the smallpox vaccine as a strong example of the purpose and effectiveness of vaccines.
“They really are effective in preventing a lot of the serious infections that we see and really have been the way that we’ve been able to prevent deaths in children,” she said. “They’re not 100 percent effective, nothing really is, but it really is the best thing that we have right now to help stop the transmission of viruses and some of the serious infections that we’ve seen that have caused worldwide illnesses.”
Clearing the air
Providers said they use well visits as an opportunity to educate a child’s family about vaccines and to clear up misconceptions, which they attributed to a lack of knowledge and misinformation.
“I feel like a lot of it is due to misinformation out in the internet,” said Megan Cranor, doctor of osteopathic medicine at Mercy Health, of why some people are against vaccines. “And celebrity endorsement of not getting these vaccines is also hugely problematic because they’re not doing it based off … anything evidence based.”
Dr. Mullen said she encounters families who are hesitant about vaccines “on a weekly basis,” and less frequently those who are against vaccinations. She emphasized the need to have a conversation with a hesitant patient.
“If I have someone who is questioning or is even anti-vaccines, I always ask the question, ‘Why?’” she said. “If I can get an idea of what misconception they have or concerns they have, usually it does really come down to they’ve been misinformed.”
Michelle O’Brien, a Mercy clinical pharmacist, also initiates conversations about risks versus benefits.
“If people are worried that they’re going to have a reaction to the immunization, or [their] arm is going to be sore,” she said, “I always pose the question back as like, ‘Having shingles for two, three weeks and then pain after shingles is going to be a lot worse.’”
When and which to get
In a baby’s first months, it relies on its mother’s immunity through breast milk, Dr. Cranor said, and should be kept out of large groups because of limited early protection. Caretakers of new infants should be up to date on their whooping cough vaccine. Mothers receive that immunization during pregnancy.
In order to attend Ohio schools, students must have the required dosage by certain ages for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; polio; measles, mumps, and rubella; hepatitis B; chickenpox, and meningococcal.
Dr. Mullen said parents may request medical or religious exemptions for school requirements. ProMedica pediatric offices have a vaccination policy, she said. Mercy Health will see a patient regardless of their vaccination status, Dr. Cranor said.
Adults 50 years and older should get their shingles vaccine, and those 65 and older should be protected against pneumonia. Tetanus immunity should be boosted every 10 years.
Those unsure if they’re up to date on their vaccines should contact their primary care provider.
Some immunizations are administered in a series that protects a person for life, while others require additional shots later in life.
Dr. Cranor said booster shots are meant to “wake up the immune system” because immunity can decrease over time.
Multi-dose series expose the body to more of the antigen to achieve a full level of protection, Dr. Mullen said. But research shows a single, bigger dose doesn’t have the same effect, she said.
Wishful, forward thinking
With people choosing not to vaccinate, Dr. Cranor said, some diseases such as measles are resurfacing.
She shared that “as a strong feminist,” she wishes more young teens were vaccinated against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer.
Dr. Cranor said the vaccination rate among males is “very low,” which she said is “unfortunate because they can also be helping to prevent the spread of that virus, which is going to prevent a female from getting cancer.”
She said there’s a stigma around the HPV vaccine for some families that associate vaccinating against a sexually transmitted disease with endorsing adolescents engaging in sexual activities.
Dr. Mullen pointed to the influenza vaccine as “a tricky one” to get people to understand its importance because of misconceptions surrounding the annual shot. Some people think it doesn’t work or that it gives them the flu.
The flu vaccine doesn’t give a patient the flu, Dr. Cranor assured. It’s just the body having an immune response, she said. And if a person gets the flu later, it should be a less severe infection than if they weren’t immunized.
It’s recommended that people get a flu shot every year because the virus mutates to survive, so a new vaccine is developed each year to target that season’s anticipated virus.
Ms. O’Brien wishes all people who are able would be vaccinated against all illnesses.
“It makes my heart hurt when my kids are sick. I just want them to be protected so that no other kids get sick or they don’t get sick from something that could have been prevented,” she said. “I always offer my arm: ‘Please, give me all the immunizations I can get.’”
Dr. Cranor also said she wishes there was a vaccine for HIV. While scientists are working to develop a preventative HIV vaccine, there is none available to prevent or treat infection.
Providers also celebrated recent immunization developments.
The Food and Drug Administration approved in April a new pneumonia vaccine for children aged six weeks through 17 years. In May it approved the first vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus for adults aged 60 and older. An mRNA vaccine for RSV is also making its way toward approval, and a universal influenza one is still in the works.
Instead of putting a weakened germ into the body, mRNA vaccines teach cells to create a specific protein to trigger an immune response. Though they’ve been researched for decades, the first approved mRNA vaccines were those targeted at the coronavirus in late 2020.
Understanding the research process, Dr. Cranor said, would help create a healthier community.
“I want people to know that [vaccines] are evidence based, and that a lot of research has gone into them so that they are safe and effective. And the more people that can be vaccinated for these communicable diseases, the safer we all can be, the safer that our children can be, the safer that our immunocompromised family members can be.”
Source: The Blade
