District stresses importance of immunizations

     By Tina Allen
     View staff writer
      The Clark County Health District is hoping to raise awareness about the importance of getting children immunized.
      Alice Costello, immunization supervisor for the Clark County Health District, said Nevada ranks 46th in the nation when it comes to children having age-appropriate inoculations. Only 73 percent of the children in the state are current on their immunizations, yet she said there is only about a .01 percent difference between most states.
      "We are working very hard in Clark County," she said, adding one of the reasons for the low ranking is the high influx of people moving to the area.
      The Clark County Health District provides free vaccines for anyone from birth to age 21 at various clinics throughout the valley, including some libraries.
      "Regardless of insurance, status ... children should not go without required vaccines," Costello said. "There are no barriers, you can walk in at any time. No appointment is necessary."
      According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 33 percent of children younger than age 2 in the United States have not received their proper vaccinations. It is a national goal to decrease that number to 10 percent by 2000.
      By the time children reach age 2, they should have received about 80 percent of the vaccine doses recommended prior to school enrollment.
      Most states have laws that require children be current on their immunizations before they are allowed to enter school, Nevada included. In the Clark County School District, parents or guardians must submit documentation that the child has received required immunizations and proper boosters, consisting of diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and polio.
      A second dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines are required for all kindergarten and first-grade pupils.
      However, exceptions are permitted based on religious belief or medical condition, which requires a letter from a health care provider.
      Similar laws also are in effect for children entering day care. However, state requirements vary according to the type of inoculation, and in some cases are more stringent. For example, laws requiring school children to be immunized against pertussis now exist in 42 states, while children entering day care are required to be immunized against pertussis in 48 states.
      Vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease -- not to be confused with the flu virus -- for children entering day care are required in 31 states, yet no states have laws requiring school children to be immunized against the disease, since it is more prevalent in younger children. Yet Costello recommends school age children receive the vaccine, as well.
      Before vaccines were available, Hib disease struck one child out of 200 younger than age 5 in the United States, and every year, about 12,000 children got meningitis as a result, according to the Center for Disease Control.
      The Center for Disease control recommends children receive inoculations at the following ages: birth, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 to 15 months and 4 to 6 years, before entering school. However, Costello said children who are not up to date on their immunizations should still be brought in to become current. Parents or guardians should bring with them the child's past immunization records.
      In the 1920s, more than 10,000 people a year died from diphtheria and in the 1940s and '50s tens of thousands of children were crippled and killed by polio. And rubella epidemics, such as the last one in 1964, resulted in thousands of babies born with severe birth defects.
      "It is very important for us to maintain vaccines in our community or we could slip back to the days of small pox or polio," Costello said.
      Those interested in locations of clinics can call the Clark County Health District at 383-1351.