Immunization is the most effective way to reduce the impacts of vaccine preventable disease, says Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison.
The theme of National Immunization Awareness Week 2015, from April 25 to May 2, is “Boost your power! Get immunized!” Islanders are asked to talk to a public health nursing office, doctor, nurse practitioner, or pharmacist for information about immunizations.
“As a result of immunization, we have seen a decline in vaccine preventable diseases worldwide,” said Dr. Morrison. “While immunizations can be seen as only important for children, fully immunized adults protect themselves and children who are not fully immunized.”
In comparison to the pre-vaccine era, Canada has seen a 95 per cent reduction in many communicable diseases such as German measles, red measles and tetanus. Other diseases such as polio have been practically eliminated and smallpox has been eliminated. Within the past decade, effective vaccines have become available to prevent meningococcal and pneumococcal disease, chickenpox, rotavirus, and to reduce the effect of human papilloma virus infection.
A recent vaccine success story in PEI is the introduction of the Rotavirus vaccine in 2010 which has significantly reduced the rate of infection and hospitalization due to rotavirus gastrointestinal illness in Island children.
“Rotavirus illness causes the majority of childhood gastrointestinal illness (diarrhea and vomiting) which requires hospitalization,” said Dr. Morrison. “In the year following the addition of the Rotavirus vaccine to our provincial immunization program, Prince Edward Island saw hospitalization due to Rotavirus gasteroenteritis decrease by 97 per cent.”
Prince Edward Island maintains a strong publicly funded immunization program for children and students delivered by Public Health Nursing of Health PEI. In addition, certain immunizations are provided to adults including groups at risk of particular diseases.
Immunizations such as influenza, pneumococcal, and other vaccines such as tetanus-containing vaccine may be obtained at physician’s offices, health centres, and community pharmacies.
The goal of an immunization program is to provide safe and effective vaccines and to protect the population against vaccine preventable diseases. Declining immunization rates in a population can lead to a return of diseases such as mumps, measles and whooping cough which were previously controlled.
The recommended childhood immunization schedule can be found through the Chief Public Health Office at www.gov.pe.ca/health.