By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As the school year rapidly approaches, doctors across the country are encouraging adults and children alike to stay up-to-date on vaccinations.
Dr. Lauren Smith, pediatrician and current vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – the largest American philanthropic organization focused on health – joined the KOAL newsroom to discuss vaccinations and provide more information on the importance of investing in public health.
“Vaccines are an incredible public health achievement,” opened Smith. “They have, over the past 30 years, prevented at least a million deaths and more than 30 million hospitalizations while saving trillions in total societal costs. And I’m not just a pediatrician and public health person, I’m also a mother of three now young adults, and it was a major priority for me to ensure that my children stayed healthy and were protected against these illnesses whose complications can cause significant harm.”
Currently, the U.S. is experiencing a rise in measles cases, with the disease having the most reported cases since 2000, when it was declared eliminated. “There are more than 1300 cases so far, and within 13% of those have resulted in hospitalizations. And among young children under five, one in five of the children who’ve gotten measles has had to be hospitalized. So I think the important thing to share is that our parents and grandparents knew what these diseases caused and saw it firsthand in their friends and their loved ones and neighbors,” said Smith. “And so when these safe and effective vaccines became available, they jumped at the chance to be able to protect their children from these diseases.”
Smith also encouraged those who are skeptical of vaccines to get with their health care providers and discuss their concerns. “I would want to understand where they are getting their information and what specific concerns they have. And I would like to emphasize that vaccines are among the safest and most effective medical treatments we have. They’re rigorously tested. No vaccines are approved unless all the health and medical experts agree that they’re safe and important to use.”
She continued,” I think one of the things to point out is that they have been so effective that many of the people raising children today have never come in contact with these diseases and the complications they can have. So that’s what has proved their effectiveness. They worked almost too well because now people don’t know what it is that they’re trying to avoid.”
In the Castle Country, the Southeastern Utah Health Department offers immunization clinics at all three of its offices in the area. At the Price office, these clinics are available Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. In Castle Dale, walk-in hours are Mondays from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. And in the Moab offices, these clinics run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closing our conversation, Dr. Smith shared,” If you have questions, it’s totally reasonable. Please talk to your pediatricians about it. And don’t be afraid to bring that up. They’re there to provide guidance and help you understand the real information and help you get away from some of the misinformation.”