Autumn brings kids back into school classrooms and also heralds rising rates of the flu, COVID-19 and other viruses.
Infectious-diseases expert Dr. Helen Chu expressed concern that this year, especially, conditions are ripe for contagious infections to spread among children.
Families should seek the protection of available vaccines, she said.
It’s not just influenza and COVID-19 that should worry parents. Measles and pertussis, or whooping cough, are again circulating in U.S. communities. Chu said these preventable illnesses are making comebacks as childhood vaccination rates decline below the levels needed for herd immunity.
“What you want for your child to see first is a vaccine, not an infection,” she said.
Vaccinations not only protect individuals, they also safeguard families, classmates and vulnerable people who may be immunocompromised.
“I think just being very proactive, doing what your pediatrician is asking you to do in terms of getting your vaccines, staying home when you're sick so you don't transmit to others,” she said.
Download broadcast-ready soundbites and related multimedia with Chu.
