Learn how vaccines can help ensure a healthier start to school

(BPT) - Pop quiz: Do you know which childhood diseases the DTaP vaccine helps prevent?

(Answer: Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis — also called whooping cough).

If you didn’t know the answer, you’re not alone! Recommended childhood vaccines like DTaP have been so successful in preventing serious illness and even death from once common diseases that many of us are unfamiliar with their names or symptoms.

Ensuring your child is up to date with their recommended vaccinations helps keep it that way. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the latest vaccination coverage, or the percentage of people who are vaccinated with specific vaccines, among kindergarten children is 93%. This is lower than pre-pandemic coverage, which hovered around 95% for nearly a decade. This is significant because it means that there are nearly 250,000 kindergartners who may not be completely protected against serious diseases like measles.

Help make sure that your child is protected from serious diseases like measles and chickenpox, which can spread easily in school settings. Talk to your child’s healthcare provider about keeping your child up to date with recommended vaccines.

Want to learn more? Consult CDC’s easy-to-read vaccination schedule to see if your child is protected. And check out the handy “cheat sheet” below to learn more about some once-common childhood diseases that recommended vaccinations now help protect your child from:

Diphtheria

• About: Diphtheria is a contagious bacterial infection of the nose and throat and sometimes skin. The disease spreads when people with diphtheria cough or sneeze, or if others come into contact with their infected wounds.
• Symptoms and complications: Diphtheria can cause difficulty breathing. In more serious cases, diphtheria can cause heart muscle damage, heart failure, and nerve damage. About 1 in 5 kids under the age of 5 who get diphtheria die from it.
• How to protect your child: Make sure your child is up to date on their DTaP or Tdap vaccinations.

Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

• About: Pertussis (also known as whooping cough) is a very contagious bacterial infection of the lungs. The disease spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes around others.
• Symptoms and complications: Pertussis usually starts with cold-like symptoms, and maybe a mild cough, but can become very serious. Someone with whooping cough can cough violently and rapidly, over and over. This extreme coughing can result in vomiting and exhaustion. Babies and young children may not cough at all but may have difficulty breathing instead.
• How to protect your child: The best way to stay protected from pertussis is with DTaP or Tdap vaccination.

Polio

• About: Polio is caused by poliovirus, a viral infection of the nerves and brain. It is spread through person-to-person contact from infected stool.
• Symptoms and complications: Poliovirus can cause life-long paralysis and be life-threatening.
• How to protect your child: There is no cure for polio, but it can be prevented with vaccination.

Varicella (Chickenpox)

• About: Varicella (also known as chickenpox) is a contagious viral infection that causes fever, headache, and an itchy, blistering rash. It is spread through the air and direct contact. Up to 9 in 10 people that are not immune and come into contact with someone with chickenpox will also get infected.
• Symptoms and complications: Varicella can cause infected sores, brain swelling, infection of the lungs (pneumonia), and can be life-threatening.
• How to protect your child: The varicella vaccine protects children against chickenpox.

Measles

• About: Measles is very contagious and can be serious. Anyone who is not protected against measles is at risk. About 9 in 10 people who are exposed to measles and not protected against measles get infected.
• Symptoms: Measles can cause high fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis), and rash. Measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5 years old.
• How to protect your child: The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine protects children against measles.

Thanks to the protection given by recommended vaccines, it makes sense that there is less awareness about these once common childhood diseases. Let's keep it that way. Before your child goes back to school, make sure they are up to date with recommend vaccines. Talk to your child’s healthcare provider about recommended childhood vaccines. Visit CDC’s webpage to learn more.