A little jab’ll do it


little jab’ll do it


WORTHWHILE: Now is the time to check immunisation records.


IF your child is beginning school next week or aged four, Hunter New England Health is stressing the need for immunisation to be up to date.


Public health physician Dr David Durrheim said parents should make sure their child had received their scheduled boosters as they were a simple, safe way of protecting against harmful infections and diseases. “It’s important to remember that the only way your child can build immunity against these conditions is to either have a small needle or endure a bout of the full-blown infection,” he said.


“However, exposing your child to the risk of these conditions is dangerous because childhood diseases can cause serious complications and sometimes death.”


Dr Durrheim said immunisation had been responsible for a huge reduction in many serious childhood diseases.


Cases of diphtheria, polio, tetanus and Hib


meningitis had not been seen in the region’s children for many years. However, every year, returning travellers reintroduced measles into Australia. As measles was very infectious it could spread rapidly among children who were not immunised. “All children should also have two doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine by the time they begin school, the fi rst at one year of age and the second at four years of age,” Dr Durrheim said.


Whooping cough continues to circulate in the community – there were 762 confi rmed cases in Hunter New England last year. Parents should be aware that the adverse reactions after receiving vaccinations were generally minor and lasted only a short time, and that the benefi ts of keeping a child safe and healthy far outweighed the very small risk associated with immunisation.


More information can be found at immunise .health.gov.au.


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THE NEWCASTLE POST Wednesday, January 25, 2012 5


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