GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — August is here, and it's immunization month.
When parents think about their back-to-school checklist, the basics come to mind: backpacks, calculators and three-ring binders.
What's often forgotten on that list? Vaccinations.
Estimates show that every day, children are exposed to 2,000 to 6,000 illness-causing antigens.
For many kids, the classroom is a big culprit.
Dr. Gil Nelson, a physician at the RightCare Clinic, said, “We definitely see an uptick in communicable diseases and illnesses that are spread around the classroom and in the community once school gets back into session.”
According to Dr. Nelson, most of these illnesses are preventable.
“There's been certain illnesses and diseases that are almost pretty much nonexistent since vaccinations were developed,” he said.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder to get to your doctor — and immunization rates dropped.
Michigan fell significantly behind in childhood vaccinations during the pandemic, and has not rebounded yet to 2019 levels, putting youth at risk for preventable illness and disease.
“Hopefully by getting up-to-date on immunizations, that helps prevent outbreaks in the spread of those diseases,” Dr. Nelson said.
When children and teens are behind on vaccines, the risk of diseases reemerging and causing outbreaks in our communities significantly increases.
Without the protection of immunizations, preventable diseases can easily spread.
To put it simply, “Vaccines do save lives," Dr. Nelson said.
But — how do they keep children safe?
Dr. Nelson remarked, “Immunizations allow your body to be exposed to a certain pathogen and build up an immunity against that.”
And that limits the spread to others.
“Nothing's going to be perfect, but by getting immunized and preventing the spread of illness, it'll help keep our classrooms and our communities more effective and healthy,” Dr. Nelson said.
For first steps in getting your kids vaccinated before school starts, Dr. Nelson recommends talking to your primary care doctor or visiting your local pharmacy.
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