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Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Hally Healthcast, the wellness podcast from Hally Health, your partner in helping you live your healthiest life. Every episode on our podcast addresses a new topic, important to your health and wellbeing. Bringing in expert doctors, therapists, and specialists who offer advice and answer your most pressing questions.

It's August, so today's episode is all about the back-to-school season. It's a time when our children, young and old, are heading back to class, starting up a new year and hitting the books. It's an exciting time for both students and their parents and guardians, but it can also be a bit exhausting and overwhelming.

Today, we'll give you tips to help your children's health and wellbeing during this important time. Here with us is Dr. Molly Jonna. She's a pediatrician at Carle Champaign on Curtis, part of the Carle Health System of Central Illinois. Dr. Jonna is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and an expert in the care of children, adolescents, and teenagers.

Welcome, Dr. Jonna, and thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your knowledge. So let's begin with the big picture here. What are some of the main things that parents and guardians should be thinking about and doing as the school year begins?

Molly Jonna: It's important when the school year begins to think about getting your child in for their annual school physical and their sports physical if they are playing sports and need one of those. At the school physical, we make sure that they're all up to date on any vaccines that they need. And we make sure if they have any chronic medical issues that they have all their necessary prescriptions and medications for school and that they have all the paperwork filled out if their school has any medication policies. And also just be tracking their growth and their development, making sure they're meeting specific milestones. And if they're having any issues with social behaviors or learning, then we can address those at that visit. And parents can raise any other concerns that they may have about their child.

Caitlin Whyte: Great information. Thank you, Dr. Jonna. Let's talk more about vaccines now. First, how can parents and guardians find out which vaccines their kids need? For example, based on their age and other factors.

Molly Jonna: Yeah. So the best site that I would recommend going to would be the cdc.gov site. And there, you can access vaccines schedules. The best one to access is actually the parent-friendly schedules, because they'll be easy to reference and know exactly what vaccines kids will be getting at different ages. You can also find that information on the American Academy of Pediatrics website. And of course, you can get that, information from your local pediatric office as well. But in general, for vaccines, we give them for infants at two, four and six months. And then for toddlers, you'll get them at 12, 15 and 18 months. And then you also get them before kindergarten and then before sixth grade and then, again, before college or the end of high school. And then everyone should be getting a yearly flu vaccine as well.

Caitlin Whyte: Well, that leads me into my next question. Can you tell us a bit more about flu vaccines, just who should get them, how often and why they are so important to keep up on?

Molly Jonna: Yeah. So the flu vaccine is the best tool that we have to protect patients from serious illnesses that the flu can cause. So really the flu vaccine, you know, save lives every year and it's especially important for kids with special healthcare needs to protect them from complications and hospitalizations. But even healthy children can have complications from the flu and hospitalization. So we recommend it for every child six months and older to get the flu vaccine every season. And if you're between six months and eight years old, and it's the first time you're getting the flu vaccine, you will get two shots that season, but otherwise it's just one flu shot every season.

Caitlin Whyte: Wonderful. Thank you so much for that. And doctor, of course, we can't talk about vaccines without talking about the biggest one in the last two years. Tell us about the COVID-19 vaccine and why that is so important for our school-age children and teenagers.

Molly Jonna: Yeah, definitely. So basically, the research has shown that the COVID-19 vaccine is really remarkably effective and safe. It does help protect kids from serious disease and hospitalization from COVID and people who aren't vaccinated from COVID when they become infected, they're at a high risk really of the long-term effects from their infection. So effects like, you know, long COVID or post-COVID condition, or even the multi-system inflammatory disease that they have seen in children.

So basically, we recommend that everybody who is eligible to get the vaccine, that they should get it. And really as the more contagious strains are spreading and infecting more people, the vaccine and the boosters are really important. So we want everyone to be fully vaccinated and boosted and they should get those vaccines on schedule as soon as they're able to.

Caitlin Whyte: Absolutely. And before we move on from vaccines, I just want to go over the safety of the COVID-19, flu and other vaccines that we've been discussing. You know, there's been conflicting information swirling in the past couple of years and even before then about vaccine safety. So as a medical expert and one with such deep knowledge of child, adolescent and teenage health specifically, what can you tell us about the safety of vaccines? What are the facts and what should parents and guardians know?

Molly Jonna: Yeah. I mean, so vaccines have been shown to be remarkably safe. I mean, we know vaccines are safe. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines are under constant study. And I don't know if everyone, you know what I mean, is familiar with that. But really safety testing begins right away as soon as you're even considering forming a vaccine and it continues until it's fully approved by the FDA. And I think everyone had a chance to see kind of how that happens with the COVID vaccine. And then after it's approved, it's monitored indefinitely. And it will be monitored as long as it is licensed to be used in the United States.

So really we, you know what I mean, are always very concerned about vaccine safety and before we would approve any vaccine for children, we make sure that it is completely safe. You know, some people will have side effects from the vaccine and that's normal and it's an expected part of how vaccines work because it's teaching your immune system to kind of recognize a virus or a bacteria so that you can build up immunity to that disease. So you could get, you know, like a little fever, body aches, and that's just a sign that your body's immune system is working and getting stronger. And that the vaccine is actually doing its job. So, you know what I mean? That's not a safety issue. Side effects are sometimes to be expected and is actually the vaccine working, and I think that that's important for everybody to know.

Caitlin Whyte: Well, just more great information. Thank you so much. Now, shifting gears, I want to talk about well-child exams. Are those the same as school physicals and why are well-child exams so important? Tell us about those.

Molly Jonna: In general, a well-child exam and a school physical are pretty much interchangeable. The difference is that the school doesn't necessarily require a physical every year. There are certain years in school that you need to have clearance from, you know, your healthcare provider in order to attend. And so those are classically what we call the school physicals. Whereas well-child exams are an exam that really you should be getting yearly. It's your annual physical. And a lot of people will go ahead and just have that done with the school physical every year. But they are very important. I mean, an annual physical gives your provider the chance to do a thorough physical exam, but it also allows them to address any emotional, developmental or social concerns that people may have. And we also do screenings at those appointments. So we will look at, you know, your heart rate, your blood pressure, and we'll talk about nutrition, diet, exercise. If you need to be screened for diabetes or cholesterol or anemia, we can get those screenings done as well. And then, you know, it's a good chance to address any questions or concerns that parents have. And with adolescents, we can address risk reduction issues, such as talking about, you know, substance use, drinking, smoking, drugs, sexual activity, depression, and those are all things that we can look at during those visits.

Caitlin Whyte: Thank you so much for that. It kind of leads me into my final question. You know, so far we've talked a lot about physical health, but as we all know, mental health and wellbeing is just as important, especially for our children, adolescents, and teens. So with a new school year, that brings many different emotions and plenty of stress and anxiety too, what can parents and guardians do to help if they notice their kid is dealing with difficult mental, emotional, or behavioral issues?

Molly Jonna: Yeah. I mean, so it's obviously normal for children to experience those difficult, like thoughts, feelings, emotion. It becomes an issue when it's occurring more than usual and when it's really starting to kind of interfere with their regular functioning. And that's when it's really a sign that something more serious might be going on. So, you know, some of those could be like they start avoiding activities because of fear or anxiety or parents are noticing a change in their sleep habits or eating habits, or they're really struggling with motivation or schoolwork, or even, you know what I mean, they tell their parents if they've been feeling sad or irritable. And if that's the case, then really they should set up an appointment to be seen by their pediatrician or by their health provider, so that we can look a little bit further into it and make sure that nothing else is going on or that they might, you know, benefit from talking with a mental health professional.

And I mean, really, you know, mental health concerns are more and more common, but they do still sometimes carry some stigma in our society. So really, you know, parents can help to fight that stigma by just letting their kids know, you know, that they love and support them no matter how they're feeling and that everyone sometimes struggles and that, you know, help is available and it should be used when it's necessary.

Caitlin Whyte: Well yet again, such helpful and important information. Dr. Jonna, you've been such a wonderful and knowledgeable guest. Thank you so much for joining us and for all that you do every day at Carle for so many children and their families.

That concludes today's Hally Healthcast. Tune in next time as we tackle yet another topic important for your health and wellbeing. And remember Hally Health is your partner in helping you live your healthiest life. Visit hally.com, that's H-A-L-L-Y.com, for resources, information, tips, and much more. Let us help keep you and your family healthy and well. Thanks for listening. We hope you tune in again.