IMMUNIZATIONS

The mission of the Immunization Program is to reduce vaccine preventable diseases by providing affordable immunizations to all people from birth through adulthood.  The goal is to have all Huron County residents up-to-date on their immunizations appropriate for their age.
 

General Information

Immunizations are a series of shots needed to avoid serious illness due to vaccine preventable diseases.  Vaccine preventable diseases can spread from one person to another and children can catch them easily.  Thanks to vaccines many vaccine preventable diseases have almost been wiped out.  However, they can become major killers and cripplers again unless children and adults are vaccinated.

Disease Information

CHICKENPOX

Chickenpox is one of the most common childhood diseases.  Chickenpox causes a skin rash that starts on the scalp and body and then spreads to the face, arms, and legs over a period of three to four days.  The rash forms between 250 to 500 itchy blisters that dry into scabs two to four days later.  It is usually mild, but someone with chickenpox can get skin infections, pneumonia, brain damage, and bleeding problems.  On average one child dies every week from chickenpox in the United States.

DIPHTHERIA

Diphtheria is a very serious disease.  It can make a person unable to breathe or cause paralysis (unable to move parts of the body) or heart failure.  About one in every 10 people who get diphtheria die from it.

HEPATITIS A

Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is found in the stool of persons with hepatitis A. It usually spreads by close personal contact and sometimes by eating food or drinking water containing HAV. Sometimes people die as a result of hepatitis A (about 3-5 deaths per 1000 cases). A person who has hepatitis A can easily pass the disease to others within the same household.

HEPATITIS B

Hepatitis B is a liver disease that is spread by contact with blood or body fluids of a person who has hepatitis B.  It can lead to severe illness, lifelong disease, scarring (cirrhosis) of the liver, liver failure, liver cancer or death. If you are pregnant, get a blood test for hepatitis B.In the United States, more than 240,000 people get this disease every year, more than one million people have hepatitis B and can give it to other people, and about 6,000 people die from it every year.

HIB

HIB disease is caused by an infection spread by coughing, sneezing, or close contact.  HIB disease can cause swelling of the brain that can lead to developmental disability, hearing loss, weakened sight, or speech problems.  Before the HIB vaccine was available, HIB infected one of every 200 children before age five.  It is most dangerous for babies under age one.

HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV)

Is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the US. There are about 40 types of HPV. About 20 million people in the US are infected, and about 6.2 million more get infected each year. HPV is spread through sexual contact. HPV is also associated with several less common types of cancer in both men and woman. It can also cause genital warts and warts in the upper respiratory tract. more than 50% of sexually active men and woman are infected with HPV at sometime in their lives.

INFLUENZA

Influenza, commonly called "the flu," is caused by the influenza virus, which infects the respiratory tract (nose, throat, lungs). Unlike many other viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold, the flu causes severe illness and life-threatening complications in many people. In the United States, the peak of flu season has occured anywhere from late November through March. The overall health impact (e.g., infections, hospitalizations, and deaths) of a flu season varies from year to year. CDC monitors circulating flu viruses and their related disease activity and provides influenza reports each week from October through May.

The main way that influenza viruses are spread is from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes. (This is called "droplet spread.") This can happen when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person are propelled (generally up to 3 feet) through the air and deposited on the mouth or nose of people nearby. Though much less frequent, the viruses also can be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets on another person or an object and then touches their own mouth or nose (or someone else’s mouth or nose) before washing their hands.

	CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first step in protecting against this serious disease.
	While there are many different flu viruses, the flu vaccine protects against the three main flu strains that research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu season.
	The vaccine can protect you from getting sick from these three viruses or it can make your illness milder if you get a different flu virus.
	Getting a vaccine is very important for people at high risk for serious flu complications, including young children, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart or lung disease, and people 50 and older.
	People who live with or care for those at high risk should also get a flu vaccine to protect their high-risk contact.

MEASLES

Measles (rubella or hard measles) is a very serious disease that is easily passed from person to person.  It causes a high fever, cough, runny nose, sore eyes, and rash lasting one or two weeks.  Ear infections and pneumonia can also develop.  In serious cases measles can cause an infection of the brain, hearing loss, developmental disability, or death.

MENINGOCOCCAL

Is a serious bacterial illness. It is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children 2 through 18 years old in the US. Meningitis is an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It also causes blood infections. Anyone can get meningococcal disease, but it is most common in infants less than a year of age and people with certain medical conditions, such as lack of a spleen. College freshman who live in dormitories, and teenagers 15-19 have an increased risk of getting  it.

MUMPS

Mumps can be a serious disease.  It lasts for several days and is easily passed from person to person.  Mumps can cause fever, headache, swollen or painful glands under the jaw, a mild swelling of the brain and spinal cord, and hearing loss.About one in every four teenage or adult males who have mumps will have painful swelling of the testicles for several days.  Most men can still father children after this swelling.

PERTUSSIS

Pertussis (whooping cough) may be mild or serious and is easily passed from person to person.  Pertussis can cause spells of coughing and choking that make it hard to eat, drink or breathe.  The coughing can last for weeks. Pertussis is most dangerous to babies under one year old.  Babies with pertussis are so sick, nearly half must go into the hospital.  About one baby in 100 with pertussis either dies or is left with permanent brain injury.  Serious illness is less likely in older children and adults.

PNEUMOCOCCAL

You can get it from an infected person. Signs and Symptoms include fever, chills, cough and chest pain. It can lead to meningitis (infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings), blood infection, ear infections, pneumonia, deafness, brain damage and death.

POLIO

Polio is a very dangerous disease.  Some children and adults who get a serious case of polio become paralyzed (unable to move parts of their bodies).  Sometimes polio may make it difficult to breathe without the help of a machine.  Some people may even die.

ROTAVIRUS

You can get it from contact with other children who are infected. Signs and symptoms include fever,

sever diarrhea and vomiting. It can lead to dehydration, hospitalization (up to 70,000 a year) and death.

RUBELLA

Rubella (German measles) is a mild disease that lasts for a short time.  People who get rubella can have a mild fever, swollen glands in the neck, a rash that lasts up to three days, and soreness or swelling in the joints.  This soreness or swelling usually lasts for a week or two.  In rare cases, it may last for months or years, and may come and go.  The pain and swelling are more likely to occur in women. If a pregnant women gets rubella, it is very dangerous to her unborn baby.  Babies born with rubella can have heart disease, be blind or deaf, or have learning problems.

SHINGLES

Shingles, also called herpes zoster or zoster, is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV). VZV is the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays in the body. Usually the virus does not cause any problems; however, the virus can reappear years later, causing shingles. Herpes zoster is not caused by the same virus that causes genital herpes, a sexually transmitted disease.

Anyone who has recovered from chickenpox may develop shingles, including children. However, shingles most commonly occurs in people 50 years old and older. The risk of getting shingles increases as a person gets older. People who have medical conditions that keep the immune system from working properly, like cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or people who receive immunosuppressive drugs, such as steroids and drugs given after organ transplantation are also at greater risk to get shingles.

Shingles is not passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, VZV, can be spread from a person with active shingles to a person who has never had chickenpox through direct contact with the rash. The person exposed would develop chickenpox, not shingles. The virus is not spread through sneezing, coughing or casual contact. A person with shingles can spread the disease when the rash is in the blister-phase. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious. A person is not infectious before blisters appear or with post-herpetic neuralgia (pain after the rash is gone).

TETANUS

Tetanus (lockjaw) can occur after a cut or wound lets the germ into the body.  Tetanus makes a person unable to open his or her mouth or swallow, and causes serious muscle spasms. In the United States, tetanus kills three of every 10 people who get the disease.  Those who survive have long hospital stays.

Click here for Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)

After the Shot

Some children:

Get cranky
Have a low fever
Are sore, read or swollen where the shot was given

Ask the nurse what to do to make your child feel better right after the shot.  Apply a cold washcloth where your child received the shot will help him or her feel better.  Acetaminophen (like Tylenol, not aspirin) can also be given to lessen any discomfort.  Ask the nurse or your doctor about how much to give your child.

Talk to the nurse if you have any questions or worries.  It takes several shots to give your child full protection again these diseases.  Make sure your child gets every shot he or she needs.

Your nurse will give you a record of your child's shots.  Keep it and carry it with you every time you visit us or your doctor.
 

Hours of Service

Clinics are held by appointment:
          Tuesdays (10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
          Thursdays (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

Contact Information

(989) 269-9721, ext. 136

Eligibility and Cost

All Huron County residents are eligible for the Immunization program. 

Vaccine for children (VFC) and Michigan Vaccine for children (MI-VFC) eligibility criteria includes children who are in enrolled in Medicaid; have no health insurance; are American Indian or Alaskan Native; or have insurance with no immunization coverage when the child presents for vaccinations. Children who qualify for VFC & MI-VFC will receive free vaccinations and may be required to pay a $10.00 administration fee for each vaccination. This administration fee may be placed on a sliding scale on 150% federal poverty guidelines. Parents of children who do not qualify for VFC & MI-VFC will be required to pay vaccine and administration fee if their insurance does not cover it.

Administration Fee

Immunizations Fee Schedule

For more information related to Vaccines and Immunizations please click here.