Vaccines El Paso
The 2021-2022 school year has begun, and children across the country are getting into the academic swing of things yet again. Whether attending in-person classes on a school campus or online classes from home, or participating in a hybrid school program, the health of students is at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts. Because immunizations are meant to protect people from potentially deadly diseases, certain immunizations have been mandated by the US government for students. Read on to learn more about school immunizations in America.
School districts in the US require students to have immunization records on file; families have to provide updated immunization records every year to each public school their children attend. Immunization is the process by which students are given vaccines in an effort to protect them against preventable infectious diseases–from chicken pox to the flu, pertussis to polio, measles to meningitis. The immunization records submitted to schools substantiate that students have received the childhood vaccines that are meant to build up a protection against diseases if they are exposed to any.
Immunizations are one way to keep individual students healthy, as well as helping to limit the spread of disease throughout entire schools. When students in a school are vaccinated, it can provide protection to everyone, including those who have not been vaccinated. This happens by way of decreasing the number of students who are able to spread the disease-causing germs throughout the school.
The medical community as a whole has endorsed the use of vaccines; there has been so much support over the years that government agencies were established to oversee the research, development, and use of vaccines–both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) play a role. And while the CDC and the FDA work together to study and monitor the use of vaccines available to the public and aim to develop new vaccines as needed, neither set specific immunization requirements for schools. The immunization requirements are determined at the state government level. (The CDC does provide information about vaccines and offers guidance regarding immunization schedules. Check the CDC website for more information.)
There are some instances when it is not advisable that an individual receive some vaccines. For example, if a child has a severe or life-threatening allergy that has resulted in an allergic reaction after a previous dose of certain vaccines, it might be recommended to not get immunized with those vaccines at all (or at least delay those immunizations). In cases like this, the school requirement for immunizations could be waived. If a student in your family needs an immunization exemption for some reason, speak with your family doctor and a representative from your school district to find out how to proceed.
Modern MD, PLLC is the health and wellness family practice of Dr. Patricia Lopez-Po, MD, serving communities in El Paso and other parts of West Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. Dr. Lopez-Po sees patients in her office located on the west side of El Paso, though she sometimes also makes home visits. She provides primary care with specialty services as needed, for the most comprehensive care possible for her patients. Reach out to Dr. Lopez-Po at Modern MD for top notch medical care. Contact her online, or call her office to schedule an appointment.
