June 10, 2004
GABE SEMENZA
Victoria Advocate
The Texas Department of Health is reminding parents to have their children immunized, a health-conscience measure that needs to be taken on time and quite frequently in Victoria, local doctors said.
Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Texas commissioner of health, said children should receive 80 percent of their childhood vaccinations by age 2, which experts say is an important step in protecting the health of little ones.
“When children are not vaccinated, they are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases,” Sanchez said in a written statement. “Vaccines are health protecting. They are safe and they are effective. But we must continue to remind people that controlling vaccine-preventable diseases is an on-going process.”

Vaccines protect children from many diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, pneumococcal diseases, chickenpox, influenza, bacterial meningitis and polio.
Dr. Meena Parekh, a pediatrician at Victoria’s Springcreek Pediatric Center, said, “We very rarely come across somebody that hasn’t been immunized. We see very few under-immunized children.”
That’s a good thing, she said, especially consider Sanchez’ warning: “One unvaccinated child can pass a serious disease on to a younger child, to a pregnant woman or to an elderly relative.”
Dr. Yogesh Dhingra, another local pediatrician, said he immunizes from 2,000 to 4,000 children yearly, but that Victoria and Texas lag behind some states in receiving them on time.
“It could be better,” he said. “But I would say 75 to 80 percent comply with the immunization schedule, and that’s pretty good. I think parents, the more they’re educated about immunization, the more they are likely to comply with that. Education is the most important thing.”
Parekh said that if a parent regularly takes his child to see a doctor, the doctor usually helps children receive timely immunizations. “And they’ll let you know what immunizations are coming up. They usually take care of things.”
Locally, Parekh and Dhingra said, parents can have their children immunized by any pediatrician, some family practitioners and at the Victoria City-County Public Health Department.
Dr. Bain Cate, the director of the local health department, was unavailable for comment at the time of this story.
Parekh said immunizations are expensive, depending on the vaccine. “The vaccines cost quite a bit. We try to see what kind of plan they have, or insurance. If the insurance plan does not cover the vaccine, we try to use the state vaccine, which is free.”
For example, the rough cost of the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella is $90, Parekh said. The vaccine for chickenpox is about $100. And none of these figures include doctor’s fees. People who are eligible, however, can benefit from certain state programs, and are only charged $12 per shot.
Another bit of good news is that because of combination vaccines, fewer needles and immunizations are needed.
“A child gets about 15 to 18 injections their first year,” Parekh said. “Now we combine many vaccines into one injection. That’s reducing the number of vaccinations.”
Sanchez said immunizations protect children, families, schools and communities. “Children who are not immunized increase the chance that others will get diseases.”
To safeguard against this, Parekh said, school nurses review children’s immunization records upon student enrollment, then refer parents to the health department or to a doctor if there’s need for immunization.
Parekh said she vaccinates about 25 to 30 children per week, which she said is common of most doctors’ offices.
To view a copy of the immunization schedule from the state health department, visit www.tdh.state.tx.us/immunize/imm_sched.htm
“Keeping children’s vaccinations up-to-date can be challenging,” Sanchez said, “but the persistence pays off in healthier families and safer communities.”