While summer camps can foster learning, the close quarters can also harbor growth of a more sinister kind.
Because children in proximity to one another are more likely to spread diseases or viruses, timely vaccinations can be one of the best ways to ensure your child returns home with health intact. While many camps require proof of vaccinations, it’s a good idea to make sure your child has received the necessary immunizations that he or she requires.
There are three main age groups for vaccinations: newborn to 2 years of age, 4-6 years of age and 11-12 years of age.
Children in the first age range initially receive vaccinations every two to three months, says Dr. Matthew Farrell of OSU Family Practice in New Albany. Children are immunized against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, Haemophilus, pneumococcus, rotavirus and Hepatitis B. Annual doses of influenza vaccines are usually given in the fall after children have reached 6 months of age.
At age 1, children receive the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) booster shot along with the chicken pox and Hepatitis A vaccines.
Children in the second age range receive booster shots for polio, tetanus, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox.
In the third age range, elementary-aged children receive another booster shot for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, along with meningitis and HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines.
“It’s important to vaccinate in general,” Farrell says.
While all of the diseases and viruses that are vaccinated against are contagious, some are extremely contagious, Farrell says. Measles, part of the MMR series of vaccinations, is highly contagious.
“If you get those two vaccines, that gives you 97 percent protection from measles,” Farrell says.
Conversely, if a person who has not been immunized against measles walks into a room inhabited, even a couple of hours prior, by someone infected with measles, he or she has more than a 90 percent chance of becoming infected, Farrell says. A similar situation exists if an unimmunized person sits in the back of an airplane while an infected person sits in the front.
Though it does not spread nearly as far as measles, influenza also spreads through the air, Farrell says.
Vaccinations can make a disease or virus seem like a relic of the past. While Farrell remembers contracting chicken pox as a child, he’s only seen two cases since he started medical school 10 years ago. Sometimes, though, a vaccine’s effectiveness can give parents a false sense of security.
Some parents believe in what Farrell calls herd immunity – that if enough children are vaccinated, those children who are not immunized against diseases or viruses will still be safe. Still, if enough children are not vaccinated, diseases can gain a foothold in communities. This is what happened with mumps and measles last year and measles this year.
“The vaccines aren’t perfect,” Farrell says.
Additionally, some people are unable to get vaccines. Those with leukemia, or immune deficiencies or some types of allergies can’t get vaccinations. Neither can anyone undergoing chemotherapy or newborns. Additionally, children under 1 year old have not received the entirety of the immunizations recommended for the newborn-2-year-old group.
One of the big fears that parents often mention to doctors is the belief that there is a link between vaccines and autism, Farrell says.
“That’s been proven to be false,” he says.
The theory that vaccinations were linked to autism has its origin in an article published more than 15 years ago by Andrew Wakefield in Britain, Farrell says. While Wakefield linked the MMR vaccine to autism, it was revealed that he falsified his results to prove the link. The article was retracted, Wakefield lost his license and subsequent studies have shown no link between vaccines and autism.
Doctors are recognizing more cases of autism than they had in the past, and children are usually diagnosed after their first stage of vaccinations, Farrell says. That could cause parents to continue to search for a link between autism and vaccines.
Another concern about vaccines is the worry that vaccinations are exposing children to too many antigens. There is a total of 150 different antigens in the vaccines a child is to receive from birth to 18 years of age, Farrell says. While that may seem like a lot, on average, every child is exposed to 6,000 antigens on a normal day.
“There are always risks to everything that we do in our daily lives, including vaccinations, but the risks are minimal,” Farrell says.
Sarah Sole is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
