Scott Webb (Host): Vaccinations can prevent all of us from contracting or spreading viruses and more, and our kids are no exception. Joining me today to talk about the vaccinations that our kids should receive, when vaccinations should occur and how we can help younger kids deal with their fears over getting shots is Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku. She's a pediatrician with Stanford Medicine Children's Health.

Host: This is Health Talks from Stanford Medicine Children's Health. I'm Scott Webb. Doctor, it's so great to have your time today. We're going to talk about vaccinations, right? And we've all sort of learned a lot about vaccinations over the last few years thanks to COVID-19, but there's lots of other vaccinations. Having a couple of kids myself, have been through this, lots of other vaccinations they needed along the way. So, let's talk about that. And when we think about vaccinations the kids need going back to school or maybe for college, you know, what's prescribed, what are the best practices, what do you recommend?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: According to the California Department of Public Health, the immunizations are required to go back to school are usually the vaccines against polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox. Now, students entering the seventh grade, they will need an extra tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis booster. As pediatricians, we also do recommend to other vaccines, the HPV and meningococcal vaccine. However, these shots are not required for school attendance.

Immunization for college, it will differ between colleges and universities. So, some college requires some vaccines, some college don't require vaccines. Usually, the California Department of Public Health recommends for all college students to be protected, again, measles, mumps and rubella, chicken pox, T-DAP, meningococcal vaccine and hepatitis B.

Host: And I'm always very thankful that the pediatricians, you know, keep such good records and know what the kids need because it's a bit overwhelming. It is for me, and I'm sure for other parents as well. Maybe you can just reinforce why are these vaccinations, why are the vaccines so important?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: This is a great question. So, vaccines actually teach our body to create antibodies, actually to fight or to protect you from several diseases. It is much, much safer for your immune system to learn this through vaccination than by catching the disease and getting, you know, treated for it. So once your body knows how to fight a disease, it can usually protect you for many years.

Host: Let's talk about those kiddos that are a little bit afraid to get shots. I had one who was fearless when it came to shots. And then, the other one I practically had to hold down on the table for them to get their shots. So, what can parents do if they've got kids that are a little bit afraid of shots, they have some anxiety before they go? What do you recommend?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: this is a very, very common concern. And I always tell the parents that many, many children fear getting shots. But there is good news that there are things that we can try to help our kids before getting the vaccine. One of the most important things I tell the parents is just to always be honest with your kid. Remind them that shots can pinch, but you would not hurt for too long. Always it's important to remind your child that immunization will help protect them from getting sick. Sometimes they say maybe you want to try to use the word poke instead of shot. That could also help with the fear as well. Trying to use or consider things that will distract your kid from the office will help, like a stuffed animal, like a favorite book. It is important also that the parents appear very calm during their vaccines and have a positive attitude. A lot of children will be more anxious if they sense that the parents are anxious as well during the vaccines.

Things that also help is, for example, the deep breathing. I tell the parents that you can teach your kids to have like a deep breath, like maybe three to five deep breaths, before, during and after the vaccine. And we can teach them that before the appointment. Another one is squeezing. They can squeeze their hands like three to five times and also will help with distraction a little bit and will help also before the vaccine is given.

Host: And do you recommend, especially for the little ones, you know, not my son who's in college obviously, but for the little ones, do you recommend a little play, sort of like doctor sets, maybe just to sort of, help them learn and explore what it's like to go to the doctor's office and just get a little practice in?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: Yes, absolutely. When the patients, you know, they're very fearful, sometimes we invite them, you know, to come to the office, we can talk to them about it, we can show them pictures. Parents can also show them pictures, and then see that nothing bad is going to happen. So, that will also help the patients to start getting used to the office, not only for the vaccine.

Host: And who knows, we might be training tomorrow's doctors, right? Get them started early, right?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: Yes. Why not?

Host: Is there a best time, if you will -- I'm putting that in quotes -- is there a best time for our kids to get vaccinated in terms of, you know, whether it's going back to school or just in general? Are there some times that are better than others for some reason?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: So, the good news is by actually the time a child's going to school, they have received many of the vaccines already. So, most of the children will receive all the vaccines within the first two years of life. Now, I always remind our patients that some kids are behind some vaccinations. So for those who are catching up on vaccines, it is important for the parents to remember that vaccine protection increases not right after the vaccine is given, it increases slowly in the days following your vaccination, so you may need seven to 14 days after the final dose to be protected.

Host: And one of the things, doctor, as we get close to wrapping up here is sometimes, you know, whether it's kids playing sports and they need vaccination records or whatever, you know, whether it's enrolling in a new school or sports, whatever it might be, how do parents get those vaccination records?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: So, there are several options for parents to get it. One is the doctor's office where your kid usually go. They have made records of the vaccination for your kids. The schools are another great place to get vaccinations because they need to check old records, so they might be able to provide old vaccination records as well. And then, baby books, sometimes you can find also some of the vaccines that were given as a kid. And there's another way to do it through the California Department of Public Health, it's myvaccinerecord.Cdph.ca.gov. You can just put, you know, a few details like the name, date of birth, they send you a link and you can have information of your vaccinations given in California.

Host: doctor, just want to finish up here by asking about other types of shots and vaccinations. Flu shot, sure. I think most pediatricians, you maybe recommend that. But also wondering about COVID vaccines and your understanding of where we're at today, where we're sort of going in the future. Are you and other pediatricians still recommending COVID shots for kids?

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: We do actually recommend the COVID vaccines to be given. You know, COVID, it's kind of like a new diseases for us with new variants, and vaccines have showed protection against severe illness against COVID. So, we are still recommending that in our office.

Host: Good to know. Well, it's been nice to have you on today. Nice to get to meet you and thanks so much for your time today. You stay well.

Dr. Paula Tamashiro Tairaku: Thank you for having me.

Host: And for more information, go to stanfordchildrens.org. And we hope you found this podcast to be helpful and informative. If you did, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for additional topics of interest. This is Health Talks from Stanford Medicine Children's Health. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well, and we'll talk again next time.