Physicians seek to boost childhood vaccination rates

Doctors see all kinds of illness and ailments in any given year, but something they 不 see in their offices and emergency departments are cases of measles, 流行性腮腺炎, 破伤风, meningitis or polio.

Those diseases were once big health concerns decades ago, 但是，这些疾病的免疫接种的发展和广泛分布在现代社会中几乎消灭了它们.

But they’re never really gone, 这就是为什么医生们继续努力鼓励父母不仅让他们的孩子接种疫苗，还要坚持国家推荐的注射时间表.

In August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report, analyzing the impact of routine childhood immunizations in the nation since 1994. 他们的发现? Childhood vaccines have helped prevent hundreds of millions of illnesses, 在过去的30年里，数千万人住院治疗，100多万人死亡.

美国疾病控制与预防中心研究了推荐给儿童的九种疫苗的影响:预防白喉的DTaP疫苗, 破伤风 and pertussis (whooping cough); Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib); poliovirus; measles, 流行性腮腺炎 and rubella; hepatitis A; hepatitis B; varicella (chicken pox); pneumococcal conjugate; and rotavirus. 美国疾病控制与预防中心的疫苗接种计划建议，在儿童年满18个月之前，要接种大约12种不同的疫苗, with additional boosters administered up through age six.

为博士. 托马斯Gutwein, 艾伦县卫生专员和Parkview医生主管急诊科和院前服务, 这是一份医生在他们的实践或急诊室很少或从未见过的疾病清单.

“疫苗真的非常非常有效，这是故事好的部分，”Gutwein说. “In emergency medicine, these specific illnesses are very rare.”

这些常规疫苗的有效性不仅可以保护个人，还可以通过在人群中建立群体免疫提供二次防御, 这有助于保护那些没有接种疫苗或因医疗原因无法接种疫苗的人.

但医生们发出了警告，因为自2020年以来，地方和全州的疫苗接种率都有所下降.

Source: Indiana Department of Health

In 2020, 在3岁之前完成推荐疫苗接种计划的儿童比例为70%.2% and had been increasing year over year. 但随后COVID-19大流行来袭，疫苗接种率急剧下降，低至56.4% statewide before ticking up to 58.6% overall in 2024, according to the Indiana Department of Health.

As health commissioner, Gutwein is an advocate always looking for ways to boost community vaccine rates. 在艾伦县, about 64% of children under age three were on schedule with their vaccines in 2020, but like the state, that number dropped to under 60% before rebounding to 61.今年是1%.

区域, most counties remain ahead of the state average, although most have seen rates dip since 2020. Locally, 亨廷顿 and Whitley counties lead the region at 72.2%和72%, 分别, 与沃巴什, 井, Noble and DeKalb counties all currently above 65%, according to Indiana Department of Health data. 另一方面，科修斯科县的投票率从2020年的70%以上大幅下降至54%.6% this year, while LaGrange County is only 35.5%的人接种了疫苗——归因于其庞大的阿米什人口——但该县的疫苗接种率也从2020年的近50%大幅下降.

When children aren’t getting their shots on time, 他们失去了部分保护，转而依赖于社区的群体免疫. But if overall vaccination rates continue to fall and that herd immunity weakens, it provides opportunities for diseases to re-emerge and spread, Gutwein说.

“You’re gambling,Gutwein说 of the risk represented by not vaccinating on time. “And the odds are good in your favor that you won’t get sick, but as a group or as a society, 作为一个社区, we actually help each other. It’s not just about the individual. It’s herd health, a community health issue.”

In the few years since 2020, physicians have been working to play catchup with parents and their children. The Allen County Health Department, 例如, has helped provide additional funding to the Fort Wayne-based, 低成本的超级注射诊所和其他项目直接向父母推销，以鼓励接种疫苗，并回到大流行前的水平.

由于在大流行期间可能错过接种疫苗的年轻儿童正在或正在前往公立学校，并赶上了出勤的免疫要求，因此接种率开始反弹.

“It’s going to take everybody to get back on board. We’re doing a lot of catchup for kids going back to school, which is really beneficial,Gutwein补充道.

When it comes to working with parents on vaccinations, Dr. 托尼GiaQuinta, Parkview Physicians Group – Pediatrics, 他说，大多数家长都明白常规疫苗对孩子长期健康的好处.

“In my clinic I still see a very high level of confidence in immunizations, and it starts with us as providers, 因为病人去找他们的儿科医生和家庭护理医生是因为他们天生信任他们,” GiaQuinta说. “我可以自信地说，疫苗是安全有效的，这是最重要的, most powerful medicine in my medicine bag to keep their child healthy and thriving.”

The COVID-19 pandemic did, 然而, increase skepticism and hesitancy about vaccines in general, 贾昆塔说，一些家长在选择接种疫苗之前确实有问题或想要更多信息. GiaQuinta承认有大量关于疫苗的信息——有些是好的, some not – and parsing that as a layperson can be difficult. Listening to and responding to parent concerns is key, 贾昆塔说，儿科医生和家长可以通过认识到他们有共同的最终目标来弥合差距——确保这些孩子健康成长，充分发挥他们的潜力.

“我可以告诉父母，‘我知道你有多爱你的孩子，多关心你的孩子，多希望他们健康,’” GiaQuinta说. “From there I can talk about how immunizations, 根据我的经验, are the best medicine to fulfill their goal. 当以这种方式提出和讨论时，父母就会明白这是保持孩子健康的最好方法.”

几十年来国家疫苗接种工作的成功也可能是导致一些自满的一个因素, Gutwein说, 因为人们并不经常看到疫苗所预防的疾病的负面影响.

“Because we’ve been so successful at eliminating these diseases, they haven’t seen friends or relatives that are suffering from these diseases,Gutwein说. “If you 不 see it personally, having 流行性腮腺炎 or having a prolonged illness, then you’re not going to be as concerned about it.”

但贾昆塔提醒说，这些都是严重的疾病，可能会产生严重的长期后果. Diseases like 破伤风 cause extreme, debilitating muscle contractions; polio can lead to permanent paralysis; and meningitis can be fatal or lead to lifelong neurological impairment for those who survive.

If parents have questions or concerns, 在你下次去看孩子的时候，和你的儿科医生或初级保健医生一起提出来, GiaQuinta说, 你的医生将能够分享这些疫苗建议的时间和原因背后的细节和理由.

“我会向我的孩子和我的病人推荐最理想的时间表,” GiaQuinta说. “这是一个理想的时间表，因为这是让你的孩子以安全有效的方式接种疫苗的最快方法.”