El Paso pediatrician urges parents to make sure immunization records are up to date

EL PASO, Texas -- With kids making their way back to school, an El Paso pediatrician says the focus shouldn't just be on Covid-19. Parents should also make sure child's immunization records for other diseases are also up to date.

Dr. Glenn Fennelly, chair of pediatrics at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of El Paso told ABC-7 last year, there was a huge drop in immunization rates for children -- 60 percent drop from 2019 to 2020.

He said even though that trend has been reversing since reopenings, El Paso has trailed behind the state in new child vaccines since 2019. 

"There's been an incredible increase in visits, so families are feeling much more comfortable coming for in-person visits," Fennelly said.

But he's concerned that kids between the age of one and two aren't up to date on certain of their vaccinations. Plus, he said, if kids don't keep up with their shots, outbreaks other than Covid-19 could occur, some could even be more dangerous.

"The biggest concern here is, of course, all the vaccines can avert severe illness, but it's around measles and perhaps whooping cough. If we don't maintain a high level of immunization, for example, with measles, maybe 94% or higher of all kids at certain age groups been immunized, we may see outbreaks."

Fennelly suggests scheduling an appointment with your child's pediatrician as soon as you can.

"Measles, unlike Covid-19, can kill about one and 1,000 children, regardless of their sort of health status and otherwise healthy kid, and one in five may end up being hospitalized by measles. So that that should motivate you to check in with your pediatrician," he said.

ABC-7's Good Morning El Paso is your back to school headquarters. The first day of school for nine Borderland school districts is Monday, August 2.