Assemblyman Goldfeder Stresses Importance of Immunizations

We are pleased to welcome Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder as our guest blogger today.

With Back To School Season Around The Corner, Assemblyman Goldfeder Reminds Parents To Make Sure Children Have Up To Date Immunizations

As parents, there are many things that my wife and I think about every day to help protect our children.  We want them to look both ways before crossing the street, not talk to strangers, eat well, and stay healthy.  We are very lucky that today we do not have to worry about our children contracting debilitating and potentially life threatening diseases like Polio that our parents and grandparents feared, but that is only because vaccines have been developed to keep them safe and healthy.  Sometimes, people forget that without vaccines we see increases in preventable diseases such as Pertussis also known as Whooping Cough.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Whooping Cough infections are at a 50 year high in the United States.  Children who are not immunized are 8 times more likely to contract Whooping Cough.

With the back to school season right around the corner, we also are making sure that our children have all of their immunizations.  As a father and a member of the New York State Assembly, I would like to remind all parents to make those doctors appointments and keep your children immunized.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a website where parents can see what immunizations their children need at every age.  Go here to see what immunizations your children need.

When many people are in large gatherings it is easier for contagious diseases to spread.  Our children are in classrooms, outside on playgrounds, in gym class, and in lunch rooms in close quarters with many other children and adults.  It is important to do everything we can to keep them and the other children they are with healthy.  As children are going into elementary school, it is recommended that they need to be immunized against Polio, Measels/Mumps/Rubella, Chicken Pox, the Flu, Tetanus, and Whooping Cough.   Children are recommended to be immunized again for Flu, Tetanus, and Whopping cough as they become preteens.  It is also recommended that they receive additional immunizations for Meningitis and HPV.

Make sure that you check in with your pediatrician and have all your children’s immunizations up to date for the upcoming school year.  I wish all parents and children a productive, happy, and healthy back to school season.

By Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, New York State Assembly District 23 – Queens

-Jaime Venditti, 8/27/12