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A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows many children are still behind on routine vaccinations — including measles, mumps, and rubella — after their parents canceled medical appointments in the early months of the pandemic.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed the CDC’s recently released recommended catch-up schedule, and pediatricians across the country hope parents act quickly to help keep rare infections at bay.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis also reported that its number of well-child visits is down.
“We, unfortunately, have seen that same drop in vaccinations. I think what’s going on is that we’re dealing with everything that was going on with the pandemic. Going to the doctor was not on top of mind, and frankly, a lot of people were avoiding going to the doctor because, you know, that’s where sick people are,” said SLUCare pediatrician Dr. Ken Haller.
Doctors said the lag might pose a serious public health threat of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles and whooping cough.
“These infections, which frankly we haven’t seen as much of, are going to come roaring back,” said Haller. “At Cardinal Glennon, we’re already seeing that we are seeing more kids being admitted with things like whooping cough, with things like influenza in addition to COVID.’”
Haller urged parents to have their children ages 5 and older get the COVID-19 vaccine, and, at the same time, get the other vaccines, especially when children and teens are behind or in danger of falling behind on recommended shots.
“I have had some families who have been reluctant to immunize,” Pediatrician and Clinical Professor at UR School of Medicine, Dr. Edward Lewis, told WROC. “I continue to try to work with them because I feel that it’s important to not just let them leave and not be able to provide them with the care,” he adds.
Lewis wonders if the passage of time might be an issue when it comes to lapsed immunization from dangerous infections that vaccines have long protected against.
“I think one of the problems is, people think of childhood illnesses as being somewhat benign; those of us old enough to have grown up in the 50s and 60s before the advent of the measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox vaccines all had these illnesses.”
Lewis is encouraging any parent with questions to call their primary care physician.