Yorkregion.com - Thornhill - Immunization campaign needs shot in the arm
Immunization campaign needs shot in the arm
Nicole Nayman with her daughter, Lauren, 13, who lost her hearing due to meningitis as an infant.
Thornhill
Apr 26, 2008 09:25 PM
By: Michael Power
Despite accusations of overreacting, Nicole Nayman feared her 19-month-old daughter Lauren’s fever might be more than just the flu.
Today, it turns out she had good cause to be concerned.
Her daughter’s symptoms didn’t improve and Lauren became lethargic. The Thornhill mother’s suspicions grew and Ms Nayman took her daughter to the Hospital for Sick Children. The trip confirmed her fears when Lauren was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinalcord. The condition develops through various causes, often bacteria and viruses. If not treated the condition can be deadly.
“By the time they admitted her they thought she was going to die,” Ms Nayman said.
That was more than a decade ago. Lauren, now 13, is healthy but completely deaf as a result of her meningitis.
At the time, there was no vaccine available in Canada for her daughter’s condition. Ms Nayman and other parents lobbied the government to have a vaccine made available here covered by OHIP.
Ms Nayman, a teacher who now works as an auditory verbal therapist, is also an advocate for inoculations — not just against meningitis but other conditions as well.
“Even chicken pox,” she said. “People don’t realize that if you don’t vaccinate against it and your child gets chicken pox, they could die.”
Not only children but adults can benefit from getting inoculated, said Deb Elford, a registered nurse with York Region Public Health.
“But there are benefits to being vaccinated at all ages,” she said. “Adults are a forgotten group in immunization.”
A national survey conducted for the Canadian Coalition for Immunization Awareness and Promotion backs that up. The survey, released April 23, shows more than one quarter of adult Canadians can’t say whether they are up-to-date with their shots. As well, 64 per cent don’t keep records of their immunizations, according to the survey, conducted in early April by Leger Marketing.
“Adults are under-immunized in Canada,” the coalition’s chairperson, Bonnie Henry, said in a media release. “Recent outbreaks of measles and mumps in Canada and three deaths from tetanus in B.C. last year, remind us of the importance of immunization throughout our lifespan.”
Tetanus is an example of a condition for which adults should — but rarely are — immunized. Tetanus is found in soil, dust and manure and any small cut or opening in the skin can lead to infection, Ms Elford said.
Another example is pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, which is often thought of as a childhood illness. But while the condition is especially dangerous for children, adults can get sick with whooping cough as well, she said.
In 2007 there were 176 confirmed cases of pertussis in York Region, with about 15 per cent of those cases in people 18 and older.
For information on immunization and other health issues, visit York Region’s website at york.ca. Click on the health services link under departments.