HEALTHY FAMILY
Back to School
Should My Child
Get Vaccinated?
health reasons or whose parents chose not to
vaccinate them.

“Some of those problems can be found with
children who are undergoing chemotherapy
for cancer, who are taking immunosuppres-
sant medications for autoimmune diseases,
Why are vaccines so important?
who have rare immunodeficiencies or who
“Vaccines reduced major diseases that used
have diabetes,” says Dr. Caren Kirschner,
to be major problems, and killers in kids,”
a pediatrician at Fox Chase Pediatrics in
Krugman says.

“Vaccines help teach the immune system Philadelphia.

“Another consideration is that chil-
how to recognize and fight off diseases that
can harm or kill children. This helps keep dren under 1 aren’t routinely vaccinated
children healthy and prevents the spread of against measles, mumps, rubella or chicken
vaccine-preventable diseases to others,” says pox,” which are all required school-age vac-
Katie Lockwood, a pediatrician at Children’s cines, she adds.

“Sometimes parents tell me that they
Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Pediatricians also note that vaccinating think their child’s immune system isn’t
your child also helps protect children who strong enough to handle vaccines because
might not be able to get vaccinated for other they have a chronic health condition like
24 Washington FAMILY SEPTEMBER 2022
asthma or sickle cell anemia, but these chil-
dren actually need these vaccines even more
to prevent complications from these dis-
eases,” Lockwood says.

You can find an updated list of school vac-
cination requirements from state health
departments through the CDC at cdc.gov/
vaccines/imz-managers/awardee-imz-web- sites.html. Philadelphia also has a local
immunization program.

Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Phila-
delphia all allow parents to opt out of these
requirements for religious or medical rea-
sons. Pennsylvania also allows exemptions
for personal reasons.

If you aren’t sure vaccines are safe for
your child considering their health history,
talk to your child’s doctor.

FATCAMERA / E+ / GETTY IMAGES
A ccording to the World Health Orga-
nization, vaccination prevents 3.5
million to 5 million deaths globally
each year. Yet, in recent years the number of
unvaccinated children has skyrocketed.

We talked to pediatricians to find out
why and to learn how parents can keep their
kids safe.

Due to the pandemic, many kids missed
their routine vaccinations. Local pediatri-
cians note that it’s critical to preventing
the spread of disease and protecting their
peers that children get caught up on their
missed shots.

“It could get really ugly this year,” says
Scott Krugman, vice chair of pediatrics at
the Herman & Walter Samuleson Children’s
Hospital at Sinai. “The overall numbers
(of vaccinated children) have dropped
significantly.” According to Centers for Disease Control
(CDC), the number of children receiving
their vaccines has dropped by 1 percentage
point since the start of the pandemic. Chil-
dren’s National Hospital in Washington,
D.C. also noted a significant declie in vacci-
nation rates among children.

BY HEATHER M. ROSS