Latest / Talking FACS / Protecting Kids from Measles: What Parents Need to Know

Transcript

Protecting Kids from Measles: What Parents Need to Know · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
• 0:04
  food, finance, and fitness.
• 0:08
  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
• 0:12
  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
• 0:15
  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
• 0:20
  and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:24
  Hello, and welcome to Talking FACS where we share research-based information
• 0:29
  that you can use to strengthen your family, your community, and our state.
• 0:35
  As of July of this year, Kentucky has confirmed 13 cases of measles,
• 0:41
  and most of those cases are among residents who are under the age of 18,
• 0:47
  and almost all were unvaccinated or of unknown status.
• 0:52
  My guest today, Katherine Jury, who is our Extension Specialist for Family Health,
• 0:57
  is here to share with us how we can protect our most vulnerable from measles
• 1:05
  during this national surge in cases. So welcome, Katherine.
• 1:11
  Thank you so much for having me, Mindy. I'm grateful to be able to talk with
• 1:15
  you today and spread some important information.
• 1:19
  Well, it is so important. And as we were talking before we started recording,
• 1:23
  you and I are both vaccinated.
• 1:24
  We're in the stage of life where our parents were very diligent about making
• 1:29
  sure that we got our vaccinations. And as we have aged, we have kept those vaccinations current.
• 1:36
  But it is very important that we talk about how we protect that very vulnerable
• 1:43
  population, our children.
• 1:44
  So what are we hearing from our health officials?
• 1:49
  About what we can do to help our children.
• 1:52
  Yes, so measles is a disease that was considered eradicated in the United States
• 1:59
  for quite a few years, but has remained on the vaccine schedule.
• 2:04
  Most children receive their vaccines for measles as a part of that MMR vaccine.
• 2:12
  So measles, mumps, and rubella.
• 2:17
  So the MMR vaccine is given in two doses.
• 2:22
  Typically, the first dose is given around a child's first birthday when they're 12 to 15 months old.
• 2:28
  And then a booster is given around the age of kindergarten entrance,
• 2:34
  so between four and six years old.
• 2:37
  And the vaccine is highly effective at preventing measles.
• 2:42
  It's about 97% effective. So that's highly effective prevention.
• 2:49
  Definitely. Unfortunately, measles is highly contagious, Mindy,
• 2:55
  which is part of why a surge in cases is such a problem for young children.
• 3:04
  So, generally, babies under the age of one are not vaccinated against measles
• 3:12
  yet, and measles is highly contagious.
• 3:17
  So, it lingers in the air from coughs and sneezes and things like that.
• 3:25
  The disease itself can linger for up to two hours in the air,
• 3:30
  even after an infected person leaves an area.
• 3:34
  And so it's spread very easily from person to person.
• 3:40
  And because a person doesn't even have to still be in an area for those germs
• 3:46
  to still be alive and spreading, being
• 3:52
  exposed in public places is unfortunately a really common way that this disease spreads.
• 4:01
  Well, and that is why we are so concerned about this disease right now,
• 4:06
  because as children return to school, and of course they're going to be together,
• 4:11
  and even if a child starts to show symptoms,
• 4:15
  they might go home, but their germs are still going to stay in the facility.
• 4:20
  Yes, and unfortunately, the first signs or symptoms of measles are very common,
• 4:28
  you know, signs or symptoms of disease.
• 4:31
  Oftentimes, it starts with a child having a fever, having a cough,
• 4:37
  having congestion, and then we don't see those skin spots until later.
• 4:44
  And so because of that, those
• 4:47
  kind of very common first signs or
• 4:50
  symptoms of infection make it difficult to know that a child has measles and
• 4:58
  is often why we don't find out about those points of contagion or the possible
• 5:05
  points of spreading until days to weeks later.
• 5:11
  So that's another reason why protection through vaccination is so important,
• 5:17
  that by the time you know that someone you've spent time with or someone that
• 5:23
  your child has been around,
• 5:24
  like you said, at school or at preschool or at daycare, it's often too late.
• 5:30
  That exposure has already happened.
• 5:32
  And so lots of times we talk about vaccinations as protection for yourself,
• 5:37
  but it's also protection for the people that you're around.
• 5:42
  Yes. And in this case...
• 5:45
  Not spreading this disease to other people is a best case scenario.
• 5:52
  So individuals who are vaccinated are not likely to have enough of that germ
• 5:58
  spread or that germ buildup in their body to be able to spread it to others.
• 6:03
  And so, vaccination really is how we eradicate the spread of measles amongst
• 6:12
  children, which is the most vulnerable population,
• 6:15
  but amongst adult populations as well.
• 6:19
  Heather, lots of times people are concerned about getting vaccines because they
• 6:23
  think that it's going to cause their child to become sick.
• 6:26
  Is that a valid concern? Not in this case.
• 6:31
  So I do understand a lack of knowledge of how vaccines are made.
• 6:36
  It can seem like, oh, I got a vaccine and then I, you know, within the next
• 6:42
  day or day or two, I did get a fever. I did get the sniffles or I did get a cough.
• 6:48
  It's important to understand the difference that those are not symptoms of the disease itself.
• 6:54
  That is your body's immune response to the vaccine. that is your body mounting that response.
• 7:01
  And so while it is possible that a child could have, or an adult for that matter,
• 7:06
  could have an immune response to the MMR vaccine, they will not get measles from that vaccine.
• 7:15
  Not only is it not possible in this case, but if they do get that immune response
• 7:21
  from the vaccine, that, you know, low-grade fever.
• 7:24
  Sniffles, or congestion, or cough, those are actually good signs,
• 7:30
  not that your body is infected, but that your immune system is working the way that we want it to.
• 7:37
  So we should be reassured when we get those symptoms and know that it is going
• 7:43
  to work and it's building up those immunities.
• 7:46
  Yes, and especially in the case of measles,
• 7:51
  where you know, this is a disease that carries serious,
• 7:55
  significant health risk that a low-grade fever, sniffles, congestion is definitely
• 8:04
  worth it because of the serious disease that it's preventing.
• 8:09
  What we know about measles, particularly for small children.
• 8:16
  But for adults, too, is that it can come with really serious health complications.
• 8:23
  Not that we want to talk about, you know, bad or scary things,
• 8:28
  but just to be aware that,
• 8:32
  you know, those serious complications of measles can really be detrimental to
• 8:39
  young children themselves.
• 8:42
  Things like serious cases of pneumonia, long-term lung problems,
• 8:48
  brain swelling, long-term neurological problems.
• 8:51
  Those are not things that we want for anyone, but definitely not for our children.
• 8:57
  And so just being aware that those, you know, immune responses to a vaccine
• 9:03
  may not be fun, but they are nowhere near as serious as the complications of
• 9:08
  the disease itself can be.
• 9:09
  So, Katherine, what are the current rates of vaccination for children in Kentucky?
• 9:17
  The Kentucky Vaccine Registry is one way that we measure vaccination status.
• 9:23
  And in this case, the case of measles, the age range that we're really concerned
• 9:30
  about is that the age of young children, so children going into kindergarten.
• 9:35
  This is an age where, in theory, they should be fully vaccinated.
• 9:41
  They should have those, both of those doses of their MMR vaccine.
• 9:47
  And unfortunately, we're looking at last year's kindergartners,
• 9:53
  there was about an 86 to 87% rate of full vaccination.
• 9:59
  So we are not, in Kentucky, we are not to that level of community immunity,
• 10:06
  or maybe you've heard of the term herd immunity.
• 10:10
  We are not to that level with this population at all.
• 10:15
  And if we are adults, you know, say an adult who's 25 or 30 and they don't know
• 10:21
  if they were vaccinated as a child,
• 10:24
  or when do they need to be re-vaccinated to make sure that they are protected?
• 10:31
  That's a great question. So if you are an adult and you have questions about
• 10:37
  your vaccine status, there's a couple of things that you can do.
• 10:41
  The first is to go to the Kentucky Vaccine Registry, particularly if you lived
• 10:48
  in Kentucky as a child when you would have received these vaccines.
• 10:53
  So a lot of vaccine records have been uploaded into this registry,
• 10:59
  even from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s,
• 11:04
  before the online registry was a mandated tool.
• 11:10
  A lot of health departments, pediatric offices, that kind of thing,
• 11:15
  have updated their old records.
• 11:18
  So I would encourage you to start there, to just go and look up your vaccine
• 11:24
  record to see what records are available online.
• 11:28
  And then if you still have a connection with where you received a lot of care
• 11:35
  as a young child, that may be another place.
• 11:39
  If you are, you know, still live in your same hometown, maybe that doctor's
• 11:44
  office is still open, you could definitely go and ask for your records there.
• 11:49
  Or, you know, talk to family, your parents, if they still have your childhood
• 11:54
  records, they may have your immunization record or immunization chart from childhood.
• 12:01
  So those are all ways that you could just kind of look up yourself to see,
• 12:06
  you know, what pieces or parts of your vaccine record may be available.
• 12:11
  But beyond just the paper trail, so to speak.
• 12:15
  Your healthcare provider can do immunity testing, so a simple blood test,
• 12:22
  to see if your body still mounts an immune response to different types of diseases.
• 12:28
  And so that's another option.
• 12:31
  You could see if your body still has immunity to any number of diseases that
• 12:41
  we have vaccines to prevent against to see if you need a booster shot.
• 12:45
  Or you could just go ahead and request that vaccine.
• 12:50
  It's safe. It's effective.
• 12:53
  Generally, you can receive it at most other places that provide vaccines,
• 13:01
  doctors' offices, pharmacies, that kind of thing,
• 13:04
  without any negative repercussions if it turns out you've already had it and you don't need it.
• 13:11
  There's not negative side effects or negative repercussions.
• 13:15
  So you can always receive an extra vaccine if you're concerned or your status is unknown.
• 13:22
  What if you don't know if you've had the vaccine, but you know you had measles?
• 13:26
  Are you immune at this point?
• 13:30
  Well, so that is a case of natural immunity.
• 13:33
  And unfortunately, there is no way to prove beyond blood testing, which is an option.
• 13:42
  But beyond blood testing, there's no way to prove that that natural immunity
• 13:46
  has stuck with you for a lifetime. So.
• 13:50
  While in some cases that likely has provided good immune protection in the past,
• 13:58
  it may not protect you again for a lifetime against that disease.
• 14:04
  So I would still encourage you to follow up with your doctor to see if you need that booster shot.
• 14:14
  So, Katherine, everything that we've discussed is so important
• 14:17
  to protecting our youth and other vulnerable populations because it is a really
• 14:23
  critical time as we're seeing measles just re-emerge and something that you
• 14:30
  and I both thought was not going to be a problem as we move forward.
• 14:35
  Absolutely, and especially for, you know, parents of young children.
• 14:40
  I know this can seem like just another scary, you know, scary thing,
• 14:46
  and we certainly don't want to be fear mongers, but we do want to help parents,
• 14:53
  caregivers, and community members know all of the things that are important
• 14:58
  to know to keep our little ones and our entire community safe.
• 15:05
  Even in this kind of ever-evolving health landscape.
• 15:09
  Well, yes, indeed. And, you know, we are here with information always.
• 15:15
  And we hope to help people stay informed and provide the best protection that
• 15:22
  we can in this, as you said, ever-evolving landscape.
• 15:27
  Katherine, thank you so much for your time. I know that this is not a topic
• 15:32
  that's lots of fun to talk about, but it's so important. for the health of our community.
• 15:37
  Well, thank you for the opportunity, Mindy. I appreciate it.
• 15:40
  And we always, in Extension,
• 15:43
  encourage our listeners, if they have questions, to reach out to their local Extension office,
• 15:48
  but also to reach out to their child's pediatrician and their health care providers
• 15:53
  for those specific questions that they may have about themselves or their children
• 15:59
  or their specific situations.
• 16:01
  Exactly. And if you are just tuning in, you are listening to Talking FACS,
• 16:06
  and we are a presentation of the Martin Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.
• 16:13
  We're available wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.
• 16:17
  Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
• 16:23
  health, resource management, family development, and civic engagement.
• 16:27
  If you enjoyed today's podcast, have a question, or a show topic idea,
• 16:32
  leave a like and a comment on Facebook at UKFCSEXT or send us an email at UKFCSEXT@UKY.edu.
• 16:44
  Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu to learn more about the University of Kentucky
• 16:51
  Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program or contact your local Extension
• 16:55
  agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.
• 16:58
  We build strong families. We build Kentucky. It starts with us.
• 17:07
  Music.