newjerseynewsroom.com

Some parents incorrectly believe diseases have been wiped out

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

67 percent of New Jersey children ages 19 to 35 months have received the recommended vaccine doses compared to the national average of approximately 70 percent, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The vaccines provide protection against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, haemophilus influenza B, hepatitis B, and chickenpox.

On Monday, acting Health Commissioner Mary O’Dowd said because of the success of vaccines in preventing disease, parents often are unaware that children are at risk for so many serious and life-threatening diseases. However, she said, vaccine-preventable diseases are still a threat to children. The Center for Disease Control reports that as recently as last year, California recorded more than 8,000 cases of whooping cough, resulting in the death of 10 infants; and worldwide, 100,000 children die each year of measles.

Infants are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases, O’Dowd said, and that is why it is critical to protect them through immunization. Each day, nearly 12,000 babies are born in the U.S. and all of them will need to be immunized against 14 vaccine preventable diseases before age two.

“Vaccines protect individuals, they protect communities, and they enable the medical community to greatly reduce the chances of an outbreak of disease that would become a major health crisis,” O’Dowd said.

This week is National Infant Immunization Week.