With kids going back-to-school on Thursday, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer is telling parents to vaccinate their children.
Dr. Saqib Shahab said children should be vaccinated when they are infants, preschool age and in grades six and eight.
“It’s important to have your children vaccinated on time and on schedule. It provides them with the best protection against highly contagious and potentially serious diseases, such as measles or whooping cough,” said Shahab.
Shahab said whopping cough is on the rise in Saskatchewan while measles hasn’t been reported since 2014.
"Most parents are choosing to get their children immunized,” said Shahab. “For the minority, five percent who are not, I think it's really important to have a discussion with your physician, call your local public health nurse, and discuss your concerns and questions, and review that information. We found out that in many cases when parents had that discussion. they do choose to immunize their child and it's really important for their children’s health and for others around them."
Vaccinations infants and preschool children can have:
- Diphtheria
- Tetanus
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Polio
- Haemophilus influenza type b
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Varicella (chicken pox)
- Meningococcal disease
- Pneumococcal disease
- Rotavirus
Vaccines children in grades six and eight can have:
- Grade 6 students: hepatitis B, bacterial meningitis, varicella (chickenpox)
- Grade 6 female students: human papillomavirus vaccine
- Grade 8 students: tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) booster
Shahab said it can take two to four weeks for a vaccine to have a full immune response.
