Published: May 16, 2007 05:10 pm      

Mercer Health Department has a variety of important vaccines for all ages

Vaccinations. The very idea of the needle piercing my skin is not pleasant despite all the times I’ve experienced one entering me to either deliver or extract something. Unfortunately, needles are a part of almost everybody’s health ritual nowadays. I and thousands of others stick themselves daily to check blood sugar levels or inject insulin.

The injections are also necessary when it’s time to be vaccinated. My last vaccination was for the latest influenza or flu bug. Once again I had to undergo the unpleasant ritual, but it was better than picking up the flu and all its gory benefits.

The Mercer County Health Department now has some vaccines that are being recommended by the Advisory Committee On Immunization (ACIP). The agency has had several changes in immunizations during the past year for both children and adults.

For babies, there is a new oral vaccine for rotavirus, called RotaTeq, that was recommended early in 2006. This vaccine is a three-dose series and must be given on time at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. Almost all children are infected with rotavirus before their 5th birthday.

Another recommendation for infants is the routine vaccination for Hepatitis A beginning at 12 months of age. According to county health officials, Hepatitis A is a viral infection transmitted by the GI track. For several years, babies have been routinely immunized for Hepatitis B, which is transmitted through contact with contaminated blood or other bodily fluids.

Children have been called “germ factories” for a reason. They have not learned basics such as hand washing and covering their mouths when they cough. A toddler will cough germs all over you and happily shake your hand after he or she has been handling heaven knows what. Getting children properly vaccinated helps reduce the risk factor.

There is a new vaccine for teen-agers and adults called Tdap. Tdap contains tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, health officials said. Prior to this new vaccine, they did not give whooping cough vaccine to anyone over the age of 7.

It’s believed that many adults may have whooping cough that may not have been diagnosed as such, and they could transmit the infection to infants who are not completely immunized.

Beginning at 11 years old, one dose of Tdap should replace a routine Td booster, health officials said. It’s being recommended for anyone who is around young children.

Another new vaccine is the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine called Gardasil. This vaccine is licensed for females ages 9 through 26. It protects against 70 percent of the strains of HPV which cause cervical cancer, health officials said. The vaccine does not eliminate the need for routine pap smears, and a three-dose series is required. The recommended age to vaccinate is 11- through 12- years-old.

For people 60 and older, there is a new vaccine to prevent or lessen the severity of shingles, health officials said. Shingles is a late manifestation of chicken pox. The virus can remain in a person’s body and reappear as shingles many years later. The vaccine, called Zostavax, is given in a single dose.

The new vaccines are available at the Mercer County Health Department. People who need more information can call 324-8846.

Quick and easy transportation brings new viruses into the region all the time. For instance, if there was a whooping cough outbreak in North Carolina or Ohio, it could be in southern West Virginia within a matter of hours. A boy or girl visiting out-of-state relatives plays with the neighborhood children, encounters one carrying an illness, and unwittingly brings that illness home as a souvenir.

Vaccinations help provide a extra measure of protection. It may not be possible to anticipate and counter all the hazards floating around, but it is possible to improve the odds against getting sick.

Yes, needles are not pleasant, but they are brief discomfort when compared to a major illness.

Greg Jordan is a reporter for the Daily Telegraph. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com.