'Now is not the time to let our guard down and allow another epidemic of disease to strike.'
Across the nation, parents are canceling their children's routine checkups and vaccination appointments because they worry about a more imminent concern — having their child get infected with the coronavirus at their pediatrician's office. Some parents have even delayed the first-time vaccines for their infants for fear of COVID-19 contraction.
"Even though our attention has been on COVID-19, there are many other infections still out there," said Benaroch, who The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have long recommended that children be vaccinated against 14 illnesses — from chicken pox to polio — in their first three years of life. Yet long before the coronavirus made the news, pediatricians have had a difficult time keeping parents from delaying their children's vaccine schedules. In fact, thethat one-third of children between 19 and 35 months didn't receive vaccines on time.
"Although social distancing has decreased the spread of all bacterial and viral illnesses, vaccine-preventable illnesses are slippery and tricky, just like novel coronavirus," Burgert told POPSUGAR."They can be passed from people who feel well, they need very few particles to cause infection, they can linger on surfaces for extensive time, and they harbor silently for weeks before showing up.
"I worry that for parents who skip checkups out of fear or misunderstanding, their children may suffer from an undiagnosed heart defect, hip dysplasia, developmental or growth delay, neurological issues, or a problem with puberty," Burgert said."These are things parents do not come to the office worried about but are caught during routine visits. If not discovered, missing these issues can lead to lifelong problems.
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