Parents can ensure their children are protected from harmful diseases by taking advantage of regular school-based immunization clinics getting underway this fall.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control and Immunize B.C. are urging parents to review their children’s immunization records and keep vaccination schedules up to date.
Many students are now receiving vaccination information and school-based schedules from their school’s public health nurses.
Recent reports in British Columbia of measles and pertussis (whooping cough) outbreaks point to the need to focus attention on the importance of vaccinations for all age groups.
Most kids in kindergarten or those starting high school need a booster shot for illnesses such as tetanus, chicken pox and meningitis group C.
The current B.C. immunization schedule is comprised of vaccines that protect against 13 infectious diseases, including diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenzae b, hepatitis B, meningococcal group C disease, measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox.
These vaccines are offered to a variety of age groups in schools but can also be requested at public health units, child health clinics, and physicians’ offices. Children aged 5 and older may also be immunized by certified pharmacists.
For more information on immunization programs in British Columbia, go online to: www.immunizebc.ca