Apple Valley Medical Center Physicians Remind Parents to Immunize Children Before School

2008-08-05 03:04:03 -

- Physicians at the Apple Valley Medical Center want to remind parents to make sure their children have the proper immunizations before entering school this fall. "Preventing diseases is always better than treating them," said Amy Diede, M.D., family physician with the Apple Valley Medical Clinic, located within the Apple Valley Medical Center. "Diseases once common in the United States, such as polio and whooping cough, have now nearly been eliminated by vaccines."

Based on guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians, a child should have the following immunizations before the age of six:

-- Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (Tdap)

-- Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib)

-- Hepatitis A (2 doses)

-- Hepatitis B

-- Pneumococcal

-- Inactivated Poliovirus

-- Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)

-- Influenza (yearly)

-- Varicella (chicken pox)

Vaccines work by introducing a weakened or dead virus or bacteria into the body, just enough to force the body to make antibodies, or proteins, that fight a particular disease. These antibodies become part of the body's immune system, sometimes lasting a lifetime.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, polio took the lives of 350,000 individuals in 125 countries in 1988. By 2006, that number had been reduced to 2,000 in 17 countries, while polio was virtually eliminated from the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Western Pacific region. The World Health Organization reports that if the measles vaccine were stopped, there would be 2.7 million deaths worldwide from measles each year.

"Children under the age of five do not have well-developed immune systems, making them susceptible to a variety of diseases," said Diede. "Immunizing our children not only protects them, but it also prevents the spread of diseases to those too young or too ill to receive vaccinations. Prevention is the key to public health."

The Apple Valley Medical Center includes the independent Apple Valley Medical Clinic of 13 family practice physicians, serving patients from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., five days a week. In addition, there is a 24-hour Urgent Care Center and 25 specialty physicians seeing patients through the United Specialty Center. Specialists on the campus provide services in allergy and asthma; cardiology; colon and rectal surgery; dermatology; ear, nose and throat; general surgery; low back & neck care; neurology; ob/gyn; ophthalmology; orthopedics; plastic surgery, podiatry and urology. The center also houses United Medical Imaging for digital mammography, ultrasound, CT and MRI scans; a full-service pharmacy; and physical medicine and rehabilitation care through Integrated Medical Rehabilitation.

For more information about immunizations, contact the Apple Valley Medical Center at 952-432-6161 or visit www.applevalleymedicalcenter.com.

For Apple Valley Medical Center
Sue Haberle, 763-550-0101