Summer vacation goes by quickly! The Daviess County Health Department hopes you put immunizations for your children at the top of your list of things to do this summer.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Getting children all of the vaccines recommended by the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) immunization schedule is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their children’s health—and that of classmates and the community. Most schools require children to be current on vaccinations before enrolling to protect the health of all students. Be sure and supply your school an updated and current immunization record, otherwise your child can be withheld from school.
Today’s childhood vaccines protect against serious and potentially life-threatening diseases, including polio, measles, whooping cough, and chickenpox.
“Thanks to vaccines, most of these diseases have become rare in the United States,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “But many still exist here, and they can make children very sick, leading to many days of missed school, missed work for parents, and even hospitalization and death.”
When children are not vaccinated, they are at increased risk of disease and can spread diseases to others in their classrooms and community—including babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated, and people with weakened immune systems due to cancer and other health conditions.
School age children need vaccines. For example, kids who are four to six-years-old are due for boosters of four combinations of vaccines: DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), chickenpox, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), and polio.
Older children, like pre-teens and teens, need Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), HPV (human papillomavirus), and MCV (meningococcal conjugate virus) vaccines. As of school 2016/2017, TDAP and MCV4 are required for eighth grade entry and MCV4 for 12th grade entry.
In addition, yearly flu vaccines are recommended for all children six months and older.
Check with your child’s doctor or Daviess County Health Department to find out what vaccines they may need this year.
Daviess County Health Department (DCHD) is a provider of Vaccines for Children (VFC). VFC is a program that provides free vaccine to children ages 0 through 18 years of age that are uninsured, on Medicaid, underinsured or Alaskan Native/American Indian/Asian or Pacific Islander.
DCHD also has private purchased vaccine and is contracted with five major insurance providers: Coventry, BlueCross BlueShield of KC, Cigna, United Healthcare, and Aetna. If you have one of these five insurance providers and want to get your immunizations at the Daviess County Health Department, we advise you to call your insurance company prior to your visit and make sure your plan covers immunizations and that the Daviess County Health Department is an in-network provider. If your insurance does not cover immunizations, the health department can offer VFC vaccines up to 19 years old, and limited adult vaccines for 19 years old and older.
DCHD has Public Health Day every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Tuesday, July 4, the health department will be closed). The health department is available on those days to do immunizations with no appointment needed. If Tuesday will not work for you, call, and the staff will try to set up an appointment on another day. The health department asks that you not wait until the very last minute. Once school begins, staff are out of the office and all over the county doing school screenings, so don’t wait, do it as soon as possible.
Reminder! The health department has two more days available with appointments for sports physicals: on July 17 and August 14 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. You must call for appointment. The cost is $10 per physical. A parent must be present at the appointment to do paperwork. If you have questions for the health department, call 660-663-2414.
Parents can find out more about the recommended immunization schedule at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents.
Parents can also find the newest MSHSAA physical form at http;//www.mshsaa.org/sports medicine.