http://www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1053782794,21904,

Saturday, May 24, 2003

Health officials say many parents fail to get immunizations for toddlers

By EMILY BERG/Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE — Betzaiba Isiordia will head off to kindergarten this fall, but before the 4-year-old Victorville girl experiences her first step of independence from mom, she braved a trip to the health clinic for shots on Friday.

Sylvia Isiordia said keeping up on her daughter's shots is a priority for her, and is something she has always kept up on as a parent.

Not all parents stay on top of their child's shot records, especially during the toddler years when they're 2 or 3 years old. It's a crucial time when young children are especially susceptible to lung diseases such as pneumonia, whooping cough and the flu, health officials said.

"I really don't want my kid to end up with chicken pox or anything like that, which is the reason you get the shots done," Sylvia Isiordia said.

While chicken pox isn't the worst sickness that could strike a child, the long-term affect of possible scarring isn't worth it, Slyvia Isiordia said.

Whooping cough is one illness that officials say is on the rise in California. There were more than 700 cases of the illness reported throughout the state last year, said Sandra Finney-Zane, a health education specialist with the immunization program of San Bernardino County Department of Public Health.

The lung disease is preventable with the DTaP vaccine — diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis — but requires four doses before a child is protected. Children should have all those doses by the time they are 2 years old. Many children don't receive all the doses and there isn't a vaccine for people over the age of 7, Finney-Zane said.

"(Adults) can have whooping cough and not get really sick and die but can pass it on to a child," she said.

The DTaP and flu vaccine are available only in the fall, but other recommended shots such as Pneumococcal Conjugate or PCV7 are available. Other recommended shots include three polio shots, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), hepatitis B series as well as hepatitis A and chicken pox, Finney-Zane said.

County health officials will be giving out free night lights, toys and color sheets for children who come in to get their shots within the next week.



Emily Berg can be reached at emily_berg@link.freedom.com or 955-5358.
 

A Freedom Communications Newspaper
Copyright © 1996-2003 Daily Press
Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Advertising Info