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By Ayanna Eckblad

The beginning of the school year can be a busy time for children, parents and medical professionals.

August is Immunization Awareness Month, and one way parents can be proactive about their child’s health this year is to keep them up to date with routine immunizations.

Anita Majerus has worked at Freeborn County Public Health for 32 years and is currently a supervisor. She directs the center’s disease prevention and control program and the immunization program, among others.

Majerus said specific immunizations are needed throughout a person’s lifespan. These can range from a Hepatitis B shot newborn infants are given in the hospital to decennial tetanus shots adults are encouraged to keep in mind. Most immunizations are given during the first two years of life. There are then specific rounds of immunizations children need before kindergarten, seventh grade and the senior year of high school.

“Kids need to be healthy to learn so there are vaccines that are recommended for school,” Majerus said.

She explained the best way for parents to know what immunizations their children need is to talk to their medical provider. They can also see what immunizations their children need on reputable websites like healthychildren.org, cdc.gov/vaccines/parents, vaccineinformation.org, chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center, vaccinateyourfamily.org, vaxopedia.org/about/, voicesforvaccines.org and vaccines.gov.

“I think with how people get their information now, there’s so much out there that people can access, and it might not always be accurate or science-based,” Majerus said. “ It’s important to know the source of information, and I think your medical provider’s the person who can give you the best advice on what vaccines are needed and when.”

Majerus said there is no specific time of year for children to get routine vaccinations. Rather, it depends more on when the child was born, when he or she received prior vaccinations and other factors.

“It’s important that you get vaccines on time so that they work the best that they can,” she said. A good time to ask a health care provider about what immunizations a child needs is during any doctor’s appointment. Majerus said, depending on the situation, a child with a mild illness may still be able to get vaccinated.

Adults should keep immunizations in mind as well. Adults can learn more about what immunizations they need from their medical provider or from the reliable sources mentioned above.

For those hesitant about receiving immunizations, Majerus wants to let people know it is all right to ask questions regarding concerns with a medical provider. She said the people working at Freeborn County Public Health are also happy to answer questions or share reliable sources of information.

“Vaccines go through stringent safety testing,” she said. “They really are safe and keep [people] healthy. We’re not seeing a lot of the diseases that vaccines protect against.”

Statistics are available online to show how Minnesota counties are doing in terms of populations up to date on immunizations. These can be found on the Minnesota Department of Health website.

“We are actually doing, in Freeborn County, a little bit better than the statewide average,” Majerus said. “The credit goes to the clinics. We do some vaccines here at Public Health, but the clinics here in Freeborn County … they really do the bulk of immunizations so kudos to them for keeping kids up to date.”

Majerus said even though a disease may be rare, people should still be vigilant about keeping up on immunizations. Some diseases, she explained, are only a plane ride away. A person can be exposed to an illness while traveling in an area in which the disease is more prominent and bring it back home when they return to the United States. A few examples of diseases seeing increased occurrence are measles and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

Majerus said vaccines are necessary in curbing outbreaks of these types of illnesses.