This week is National Infant Immunization Week, with local Public Health entities taking the time to emphasize the importance of getting children vaccinated.

This year marks the 25th anniversary for the observance, which raises awareness of the importance of getting vaccines early in life. Coincidentally, due to the recent trend of parents around the country keeping their children unvaccinated, the current outbreak of the measles is the largest its been since 1994. During that year, a massive outbreak of the virus prompted the creation of the awareness week. Dallas County Public Health Program and Immunization Coordinator Amy Short points out that there are an assortment of vaccines children should receive in their first year of life. However, the vaccine protecting them from measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) is one of the latest they’ll receive. “Infants get their first hepatitis B vaccination at birth, they typically like to give it within 12 hours. And then the first round of shots usually comes about two months. And you actually don’t get your first MMR that protects against measles until you’re a year old. So I mean that’s a whole year to try and avoid something like that.”

Because of that year-long cushion before infants can receive an MMR vaccine, Short emphasizes the importance of everyone around them getting vaccinated to protect the unimmunized through what’s known as “herd immunity.” To learn more about immunizations, click the first link below to visit the Centers for Disease Control website on vaccines. To hear more from Short, click the second link to listen to the Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with her and Public Health Nurse Rhonda Shoafstall.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html
https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/04/29/lets-talk-dallas-county-4-29-2019-amy-short-and-rhonda-shoafstall/