The Niles Star

Back-to-school screening clinic scheduled in Niles

The Berrien County Health Department wants kids to be healthy and ready to learn when they start school this year. Help kids be ready by providing services such as immunizations and hearing and vision screenings that are required for children to enter school.

Immunizations

It is always important to keep children’s vaccinations up-to-date starting in infancy through adolescence to protect them from serious diseases.

Side effects from immunizations can include mild fever, drowsiness, redness, soreness and swelling at injection site. To ease injection site pain, apply ice cubes in a cold, wet washcloth or take over-the-counter acetaminophen (like Tylenol); never aspirin.

Vaccines contain tiny amounts of viruses or bacteria compared to the large amounts of germs people come in contact with every day. A healthy child’s immune system has no problem handling vaccinations.

There are new requirements for immunization for the 2010-11 school year. The new requirements state that all students ages 11-18 who will be enrolling in sixth grade or changing school districts for the 2010-11 school year are required to have one dose of the meningitis vaccine; one dose of the tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis (Tdap) vaccine; and a second dose of the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine. These doses must have been administered after the student has turned 11 years old.

Visit the health department or a private health care provider to get vaccinations for children. If you are unable to pay for the shots and do not have insurance, you may be eligible for the federal Vaccines for Children program, which provides no-cost vaccinations to children whose families are unable to pay.

Hearing and vision

Children often do not realize that they cannot see or hear adequately, so it is important that all children have complete hearing and vision checks during preschool and through their school years.  In fact, Michigan’s Public Health Code requires that children receive free hearing and vision screenings, which are provided by the health department. These screenings help to identify potential problems as early as possible so that children can get the treatment they need to be able to see, hear and learn.

Children must be screened at least once prior to entering kindergarten.

A screening clinic will be held Tuesday, Aug. 24 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Berrien County Health Department, 1205 North Front St., Niles.

All clinics are free of charge and no appointments are needed.

For more information, contact the health department at 926-7121 or visit www.bchdmi.org.