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Kids need their shots, officials say
Measles and whooping cough are still a threat to unvaccinated children

BY KATHY BOWEN Gazette Reporter



    Health officials are reminding parents to keep up with children’s immunizations, warning that measles and whooping cough are causing new threats.
    State Health Commissioner Richard Daines issued a reminder that, with school set to resume next week, children will need up-to-date immunizations to attend classes.
    He said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, since January, there have been more measles cases reported in the United States than in the same period for any year since 1996.
    Pertussis, or whooping cough, is another highly contagious disease, that occurs often but could be prevented.
    Terry Stortz, director of preventive health services for Saratoga County, said her office was notified of several cases of whooping cough this summer.
    She said the illness might appear to be a sinus infection or bad cold at first but the symptoms continue for weeks.
    “We’ve had sporadic problems with pertussis,” she said. “Adults should know they can get it, and when they receive tetanus boosters, they should also be vaccinated against pertussis to avoid spreading it to children.”
    Cindy Christman, a registered nurse with the Montgomery County Public Health Department, said often measles and other diseases that are no longer common in the United States are carried by people from other countries.
    “We had an outbreak of pertussis here in Montgomery County a few years ago and we feel it was because antibodies wane as a child grows,” she said. “We encourage booster shots before sixth grade.”
    State law requires that all children enrolled in schools, day care and prekindergarten programs be immunized against measles. The state immunization schedule recommends measles vaccination be administered as part of a measles, mumps, rubella combination at ages 12 to 15 months and again at ages 4 to 6 years.
    Christman said if parents keep up a routine of recommended immunizations, the child will have had 80 percent of his or her shots by their second birthday.
    “Some kids are not getting regular vaccinations. We run health clinics here at the county for patients that don’t have health insurance, but some children are still slipping through the cracks,” Christman said.
    While state law regulates which immunizations children are to have for school attendance, Christman said some parents of home-schooled children choose not to have vaccinations kept up to regulations.
    “Home-schooled children are not required to have the immunizations,” she said. “But if the parents decide to have their children attend school in later years, the children have to be caught up on the shots.”
    Stuart Williams, spokesman for the Ballston Spa Central School District, said there are rare occasions when children come to the first day of school without immunizations.
    He said a notice is sent home giving parents a reminder and several weeks to comply with the state requirement or explain why they have not.
Christman said when the chick enpox vaccine was added to the list of immunizations for young children, some parents declined the shot because they said their child had already had the disease.
“If a parent tells the school district that their child had the chickenpox, they must show proof, from a doctor, that it is true,” she said.