Immunizations important as school starts
As parents send their children to school, they are no doubt careful to warn their children about crossing streets safely. They would be horrified if school buses were in poor repair. They would be appalled if the school lunches were crawling with salmonella or botulism.
Yet some parents are willing to send their children to school without vaccinations against a host of childhood diseases.
Last week Brown County Public Health Director Karen Moritz talked to the Brown County Commissioners about the number of cases of pertussis (whooping cough) that are being recorded in the county. She said more than 20 cases have been reported in the county in the past few weeks.
Pertussis is one of the diseases, like mumps and measles, that most kids get through with few problems, but which can have very serious complication. It is a disease that be easily controlled with immunization programs, and the more children who are vaccinated, the healthier everyone stays.
Many parents, however, listen to false and baseless reports that immunizations are dangerous, and they are willing to take a chance with sending their kids to school unprotected against these diseases.
We hope more parents will see to it that their children have their proper vaccinations as they head back to school this year.