Thousands of Hamilton students missing vaccines
Thousands of Hamilton students are estimated to be behind on school-age vaccines and catching them up fast is crucial to reducing long-term consequences.
The effects of this will be felt long in the future," said Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, head of the division of infectious disease and associate professor in the department of pediatrics at McMaster University. It's almost assured that there will be more women dying of cervical cancer in 40 years because these girls didn't get their HPV vaccine when they should have done ... The best thing that we can do is try to get everybody caught up as quickly as possible and therefore minimize the impact of these delays."
Public health estimates up to 55 per cent of Hamilton's Grade 7 to 12 students are missing their human papillomavirus (HPV) shot - that equals 21,283 youth. For vaccination against hepatitis B, that gap is up to 46 per cent, and for meningococcal, it's 29 per cent.
Around one-third of Grade 1 to 12 students are missing records for pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus - totalling just over 24,000 kids.
The rate is similar for Grade 1 to 6 students missing their varicella shot, adding up to 11,513 missing vaccines.
This is a very, very important problem facing children and youth in Hamilton, in Ontario and really across the country," said Pernica. I think that keeping this issue on the radar will be important to remind people that it's not just COVID out there. The same infectious diseases that were always there are still there and getting vaccinated for these is very important to optimize our children's wellness and future health."
Hamilton public health doesn't know how many of the students are missing the vaccines as opposed to parents failing to report immunizations done over the pandemic.
There is a higher than typical number of students in Hamilton for whom Hamilton Public Health Services does not have up-to-date vaccination records," the department said in a statement.
As a result, public health will be completing a review of vaccination records for all Hamilton students under age 18 during this school year. Parents will be notified of any missing vaccines so they can get them caught up or report shots they've already received.
Pernica expects many of the students will be found to be behind in their vaccinations.
I find it eminently believable that there are thousands and thousands of children in Hamilton who aren't caught up," he said. School-based immunization programs essentially shut down ... Hamilton public health was unbelievably overburdened ... I think there's a lot of people who had difficulty accessing primary care over the past few years."
Public health will be restarting school-based vaccination clinics for Grade 7 this fall while also working to catch up with Grade 8 students at the same time.
Students can also get missing shots at the Mountain Vaccine Clinic at CF Lime Ridge Mall. For more information or to book an appointment, go to hamilton.ca/public-health/clinics-services/vaccines-and-immunization-clinics.
Public health has also reached out to family doctors and other health-care providers to encourage them to offer catch-up shots at their clinics and practices.
There is a sense of urgency to getting students back on track because vaccines can't protect against infections that have already occurred.
Even if we catch up, there will be health ramifications," said Pernica. These vaccines don't prevent infections that are already there ... So once you have been exposed to HPV virus, the vaccine will not work on that type."
Pernica worries the pandemic has created more anti-vaccine sentiment but he doesn't see it as the main issue. He believes the biggest hurdle is complacency.
Most people who don't have a vaccine are not hard-line," he said. The majority forgot about it or they weren't able to get to the doctor's office and it was never rescheduled. People's lives are busy so I really think it's incumbent on us to get the word out that many children and youth are behind on vaccines and to make it easier for those people to access vaccines."
Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com