[ad_1]
Pediatricians urge U.S. parents to catch up with children on routine immunizations, following fewer vaccinations for diseases like measles as the pandemic forced restrictions, including home shelter orders, last year.
New data from 10 jurisdictions that closely monitor immunizations confirms that the number of vaccine doses given dived between March and May of last year, especially in older children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
Although vaccinations rebounded between June 2020 and September 2020, approaching pre-pandemic levels, the increase was not enough to offset the earlier drop, according to the study.
Vaccines are required to attend most schools, camps, and daycares, but the CDC study authors warned that the lag “could nonetheless pose a serious public health threat that would lead to epidemics of preventable disease by the vaccination”.
They expressed concern that the transition to distance learning during the pandemic may have hampered the implementation of vaccination requirements, noting that even temporary drops in vaccination can compromise herd immunity.
In 2018-19, a measles outbreak occurred in Rockland County, New York, and neighboring counties after measles vaccination coverage in area schools fell to 77 %, below the 93% to 95% figure needed to maintain herd immunity. “Pediatric outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases have the potential to derail efforts to reopen schools” in the fall, the researchers added.
Parents need to plan ahead and make appointments now so their children can be protected, said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, who chairs the committee on infectious diseases at the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“We should start thinking about it,” Dr Maldonado said in a telephone interview. “People forget. We have regular whooping cough outbreaks every four or five years, and we’re just waiting to see another one. “
“We’re probably going to start seeing more infections, as the kids are going to get back together and there will be less masking and social distancing,” she added.
The CDC analyzed data from nine states and New York City. In eight of the jurisdictions, some form of stay-at-home order was issued last spring.
The number of doses given of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccines decreased by 15.7% in children under 2 years of age and by 60% in those aged 2 to 6 years in the spring of l last year, compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019.
Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine doses were reduced by 22.4 percent in children 1 year old and 63 percent in those aged 2 to 8 years.
The administration of the HPV vaccine has decreased by more than 63% in young people aged 9 to 17 years, compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019; and doses of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) were reduced by more than 60 percent.
[ad_2]
Pictures Credit