By Kristin Hilgemann, APNP, ThedaCare Physicians-Pediatrics
Rarely is there a parent who sees his or her sick child and doesn’t wish to take all the pain and agony away. As a pediatric nurse practitioner at ThedaCare Physicians-Pediatrics, I believe parents remove the threat of many dangerous, potentially deadly childhood diseases when they opt to get their children immunized. Talk to your pediatrician about the proper immunization schedule for your infant, child, or teen. If you have to catch up on missed vaccines, there’s a schedule for that, too.
It’s not always easy. Your child may be terrified of needles, or even spike a fever for a day or two after a shot, but these are minor discomforts compared to the tragedy of contracting a serious childhood illness. Have you ever thought of immunizations as a civic duty? When your family gets immunized, you are stopping a potential virus outbreak in its tracks, and your entire community is healthier because of your decision. That’s pretty awesome.
Immunizations are like alphabet soup. So many letters, and what do they stand for? Are these diseases really that bad? Here’s a short lesson on vaccines and why they are as important today as the day they were discovered.
Immunization: Varicella
Disease: Chickenpox
Why immunize? Those itchy blisters can make a child susceptible to dangerous skin infection. In some children, the virus can lead to brain swelling or pneumonia. We now know people who have had chickenpox are at risk later in life for shingles, an extremely painful skin condition.
Immunization: DTaP (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis)
Disease: Diptheria
Why immunize? Formed by a toxin secreted by the diphtheria bacteria, a thick gray substance called a pseudomembrane forms over the nasal tissues, tonsils, and larynx. The same toxin can travel to the heart, muscles, kidneys, and liver and cause heart and nerve damage, paralysis, respiratory failure, and pneumonia.
Disease: Tetanus
Why immunize? A neurotoxin causes lockjaw, stiffness, and problems swallowing. As symptoms progress, people have severe muscle spasms, seizures, and contract long-term nervous system disorders.
Disease: Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
Why immunize? A typical cold evolves into a severe cough, and in the midst of coughing fits, the person may turn blue. Infants younger than six months are at risk for death because they themselves are too young for the pertussis vaccine but are protected if those around them have been vaccinated.
Immunization: Hib
Disease: Haemophilus influenza type b
Why immunize? Before the Hib vaccine was introduced, it caused many types of illness, including meningitis. (Fact: Hib is not an influenza virus; it’s a bacterium. It was misidentified when it was first discovered during an influenza outbreak, and the name was never changed.)
Immunization: Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B
Disease: Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B
Why immunize? Both of these diseases can permanently damage the liver leading to chronic liver disease or failure. Hepatitis A is also associated with long-term kidney, pancreatic, and blood disorders.
Immunization: MMR
Diseases: Measles, Mumps and Rubella
Why immunize? Measles cause an uncomfortable rash and fever, but the big threat is swelling of the brain, pneumonia, and death. Mumps are known for those bumps on the throat which are actually swollen salivary glands. Severe cases cause brain swelling and meningitis that can lead to deafness. Rubella affects children with a rash, but the most important reason we all need to keep this disease under control is that rubella causes miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, and birth defects in pregnant women.
Immunization: Polio
Disease: Polio
Why immunize? Parents in the early 1900s were haunted by threats of polio epidemics. Many people recovered quickly from polio, a disease that attacks the spinal cord, yet some suffered temporary or permanent paralysis and even death. Many polio survivors were disabled for life.
Immunization: Pneumococcal
Disease: Pneumococcal Disease
Why immunize? As the name implies, one type of pneumococcal bacteria can cause pneumonia; others, bloodstream infections, meningitis, sinusitis, and middle ear infections. Since the vaccine it was first recommended on 2000, meningitis in children has dropped by nearly 80 percent in the United States. Many people know this vaccine by its brand name, Prevnar, and refer to it as the “ear infection vaccine.”
Immunization: HPV
Disease: Human papillomavirus
Why immunize? The immunization prevents up to nine types of human papillomavirus than can cause cervical and vulvar cancers in young women; genital warts in both young men and women; and some head and neck cancers. Both young females and males should be immunized against HPV because it is spread via sexual contact.
Are you looking for a health care provider who can help keep your family safe from childhood diseases? Kristin Hilgemann, APNP, is now accepting patients at ThedaCare Physicians-Pediatrics-Appleton. Call her office directly at 920.954.2551 to schedule an appointment or call ThedaCare On Call at 920.830.6877 or go to www.thedacare.org and click on “Find a Doctor.”
