Immunization

The Baltimore County Department of Health will hold an immunization clinic from 9 a.m. to noon tomorrow at the Woodlawn Health Center, 1811 Woodlawn Drive, for students who haven't had their required shots. No appointment is necessary and immunizations are free. Parents must show a copy of their child's immunization record for the walk-in clinic. The 2008-2009 school year immunization requirements include chickenpox and hepatitis B vaccination for children entering preschool programs through 11th grade.

Throughout the United States, a potentially lethal war is erupting. It is a war that puts millions of innocent lives in danger and undermines the centuries-long sacred bond between physicians and patients. This is a war between pediatricians and patients and has developed largely because of the anti-vaccination movement. As a public health student at the Johns Hopkins University and a future pediatrician, I am alarmed by the catastrophic consequences this conflict could have on the health of American children.

Because of changes in immunization requirements, students entering kindergarten, first, sixth and seventh grades are required to show proof of two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR).The MMR and other immunizations necessary for children will be offered during extended hours at various County Health Centers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.The clinics will be held at:* Brooklyn Park Health Center, 300 Hammonds Lane -- 222-6620.L * Glen Burnie Health Center, 416 A Street, S.W. -- 222-6633.

My fellow mothers used to tease me about being first in line for any new childhood vaccination: hepatitis, meningitis, HPV. If it came in a syringe and it promised to protect my kids from some terrible disease, I was all in. So it should come as no surprise that as the sun came up on my 60th birthday, I could be found in line for the shingles vaccine for which I was now officially eligible. The one-time shot should protect me from the painful — and often debilitating — eruption of the dormant chicken pox virus lurking in the nerve endings of everyone who ever had that childhood disease.

Q: Last week, my 17-year-old son stepped on a nail or something that went through his sneaker and slightly punctured the bottom of his foot. Our doctor said there was no need to give him a tetanus shot. Why?A: Without knowing all the details of your son's medical history, we canonly guess as to why your son's physician reached such a conclusion. Children usually get a primary tetanus immunization series during the first year of life with boosters at 18 months and again at 5 years. Then the schedule switches to a booster dose at 10-year intervals throughout life.

Not enough local children are being immunized in a timely manner, but Anne Arundel County is taking steps to change that, a Health Department administrator said yesterday.Dr. Marilyn E. Crumpton, director of maternal and child health, said only 60 percent of the county's 2-year-olds are getting needed immunizations according to the schedule developed by the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices.The committee is affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

It's perhaps the most dreaded of back-to-school needs -- shots.All schoolchildren are supposed to have their vaccinations for polio, hepatitis, measles, mumps and rubella up-to-date for the first day of classes today.On Sept. 28, the state requires all school districts to send home any students who haven't had the immunizations required at each grade level -- an annual cause for concern even in relatively well-immunized Howard County."There's no way to measure how many children still need immunizations," said Barry Trostel, assistant chief for the state's Center for Immunization.

About 150 sixth-graders and a handful of kindergarten students in the county yesterday had not yet received their second measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) immunization.However, school officials, who had set Sept. 21 as the immunization deadline for all kindergarten and sixth-grade students, said they expected nearly all of the 150 students will be immunized by the start of the school day today."There are a number of students who are not yet in compliance," said school spokeswoman Jane Doyle.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton has unveiled an aggressive plan to immunize millions of young U.S. children -- particularly in cities where large numbers remain unprotected.Only about two-thirds of children younger than 2 now receive all the immunizations they need. The record is far worse for inner cities, where research indicates that half of the children have not been immunized against preventable diseases."We've got to do a better job of dealing with the health, the nutrition, the educational and emotional needs of our very youngest children if we expect to have the kind of future that Americans deserve," Mr. Clinton said during a ceremony yesterday at the White House.

Timely immunizations are very important in a young child's life, but too many parents fail to heed the advice of physicians to have their children vaccinated early.Sometimes, because of inadequate health insurance or simple procrastination, it is not until children are enrolled in day care or are even of school age that parents ensure that their kids' vaccination records meet minimum standards.With that in mind, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has named this Saturday Baltimore Child Immunization Day, and the Junior League is sponsoring free immunizations at the Shepherd's Clinic, 1927 St. Paul St., in an effort to get families thinking in terms of preventive health care.

In an effort to increase the immunization rates for school-age children, the Harford County Health Department will be holding early Back-to School Immunization Clinics for uninsured and underinsured students. Each year, the Harford County Health Department holds Back-to School Immunization Clinics to help students become up-to-date with their vaccinations. This year, clinics will be on Tuesdays throughout July and August at the Edgewood office, 1321 Woodbridge Station Way. Morning and evening times are available and the public is invited to call 410-612-1774 to schedule an appointment.

Maryland was a winner in the last round of military base reorganizations, but the state should keep an eye on the competition in preparing for the future, according to the official who headed the realignment. "Don't assume you are untouchable or immune to closures in the future. You're not," Anthony J. Principi, who was chairman of the 2005 federal Base Closure and Realignment Commission, said at a Friday event. "You need to assess your community's strengths and weaknesses today.

My husband says he doesn't need a flu shot because he's never had the flu. Which, if you think about it, is a lot like saying you don't need to use contraception because you've never gotten pregnant. He didn't give me a scientific reason for not getting a flu shot, unless you consider superstition a branch of medicine. Like too many Americans, he thinks a flu shot renders you vulnerable to the flu. Cosmically, if not physically. It is like you are testing fate. A flu shot, he reasons, will cause his lucky streak of flu-less winters to come to an end. It is a hard argument to counter, especially when it is made by a guy who thinks winning at video poker is a matter of talent.

When is a police officer pursuing a suspect? It might seem like an easy question to answer. But lawyers and judges in three Maryland courts argued for four years over what that means — all because of a minor collision that occurred in 2006 involving a Baltimore police cruiser. Maryland's Court of Appeals, with three judges dissenting, settled on a definition Tuesday: "There must be at a minimum movement by a suspect or violator of the law, and reactive movement by the officer to apprehend said individual.

This time last year, health officials were scrambling to protect kids going back to school against what was feared to be an exceptionally deadly flu outbreak. And while that scare has passed, they don't want parents to lower their guard as another academic year approaches. The H1N1 flu pandemic was far milder than anticipated and was officially declared over this week by the World Health Organization. But it disproportionately affected young people, and the message is still about vaccination.

This week, Baltimore is privileged to host an international conference sponsored by the preeminent global immunization advocacy organization, the GAVI Alliance. Launched in 2000 at the star-studded gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) was founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the vaccine industry, among others. Pneumococcal disease and rotavirus, a virulent form of diarrhea, are the top two killers of children in the 70 or so most impoverished countries in the world — those where the average income is less than $3 per day. It has traditionally taken 10 to 15 years for vaccines we in America take for granted to reach people in these most impoverished places, with a particularly huge death toll in children under 5 — more than 2 million each year.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention honored Baltimore health officials yesterday for significantly improving the city's immunization rate by targeting children in impoverished neighborhoods. Baltimore received the CDC's "Most Improved" award, with 82.8 percent of city children 19 to 35 months old having received vaccines against a variety of diseases in 2004. With dozens of 3- to 5-year-olds in attendance as evidence of the program's success, Baltimore's health commissioner, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings announced the recognition at the Health Department's East Baltimore-area office.

The Baltimore County Council last night voted to enlist the help of Mickey Mouse to help ensure that youngsters receive their immunizations on time.The council gave its approval for a contest in which parents who have their children fully immunized by 18 months can be eligible to win a trip to Walt Disney World and other Florida attractions.Officials hope publicity about the prize will increase immunizations for hepatitis, diphtheria and other childhood diseases from from 62 percent to more than 80 percent for children younger than age 2.State officials say the immunization rate for school-age children is nearly 100 percent.

After Lyndon Johnson was elected to Congress in 1937, he got word that a liberal magazine, The New Republic, was going to profile him alongside other New Deal stalwarts. Johnson was horrified. He called a friend from the International Labor Organization and begged her to find some prominent labor figure to repudiate him. If "they put out that ... I'm a liberal hero up here," LBJ sputtered, "I'll get killed. You've got to find somebody to denounce me!" Alas, Mickey Kaus, the blogger turned California Democratic Senate candidate, has even bigger problems.

Prosecutors argued Wednesday before Maryland's second-highest court that bribery charges against Baltimore Councilwoman Helen L. Holton should be reinstated, contending that a lower court judge erred in barring the introduction of her votes on tax breaks for developers. The arguments in front of the Court of Special Appeals were the most recent chapter in Holton's lengthy legal battle on charges of bribery and a campaign finance violation. Holton, chairwoman of the council's powerful Taxation and Finance Committee, was accused of receiving donations for a political poll from two Baltimore business leaders whose project received a tax break from her committee.