Category: Immunizations

This year due to COVID-19 and Social Distance Rules ALL CLINICS WILL BE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

PLEASE CALL THE OFFICE DURING REGULAR HOURS TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT FOR ONE OF THE DATES BELOW

Please download and fill out the 2021 Injectable Flu Shot administration sheet (link below). If you are unable to do so, we will have blank copies when you arrive.

WILLOWS INJECTABLE FLU SHOT ADMINISTRATION FORM

Please fill out a Flu Shot administration form for each child and BRING IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU COME FOR YOUR FLU VACCINE . (If someone other than a parent/guardian is bringing a child in for the flu vaccine, a written note giving permission to give the vaccine signed by a parent will also be required.)

• Drive Thru Clinics held 1 – 5 pm
  • Tuesday 10/19
  • Thursday 10/21
  • Tuesday 10/26
  • Friday 10/29
• Drive Thru Clinics held 9 am – noon
  • Tuesday 11/2

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU MUST CALL TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

You must be a patient of Willows Pediatric Group who has previously been seen in our office, and show a valid insurance card or be prepared to pay at time of service.

Please check our website for any last minute updates on the “Bulletin Board” or under “News” at www.willowspediatrics.com

*Please note all dates above are subject to availability of supply

Flu season is upon us, and now is the time to review how to best protect your child.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all children ages 6 months and older, including adolescents, receive a flu shot this season with the goal of providing optimal protection against all strains of influenza.  Influenza can be a serious illness, and as many parents are aware, influenza resulted in a record number of pediatric deaths this past year. Read More

Bacterial meningitis (infection around the spinal cord and brain) or sepsis (infection in the blood stream) is an extremely serious illness. The bacterium Neisseria meningitis (meningococous) is a cause of meningitis or septic shock in adolescents and young adults.

Even with appropriate antibiotics and intensive care, between 10 and 15 percent of people who develop meningococcal disease die, and another 10 to 20 percent suffer complications, such as brain damage or limb loss. Read More

If you could protect your child against a cancer-causing virus with three doses of a safe and effective vaccine, why wouldn’t you? While most parents are committed to vaccinating their child against all vaccine preventable diseases, some parents are still reluctant to have their child receive the HPV vaccine. In response to these concerns, Willows Pediatrics wants to remind families about the benefits of the vaccine and why we recommend it.
Read More

Photo via Wikimedia

Most of our patients at Willows Pediatrics have heard of the DPT vaccine, but fewer know a whole lot about the diseases it was designed to prevent. Today, in light of a recent outbreak in California, we would like to shed some light on the “P” in DPT: Pertussis. Before vaccines, pertussis (also known as whooping cough) was a common childhood disease that caused thousands of deaths annually back in the 1920s and 1930s. The development of a pertussis immunization in the 1940s and the acellular version (which we now use in the DPT shot) in the 1990s, has reduced the cases of this disease significantly.

However, pertussis still exists and is a highly contagious childhood disease. According to the CDC, a typical case of pertussis in children and adults starts with a cough and runny nose for one to two weeks, followed by weeks (or even months) of rapid coughing fits that sometimes end with a whooping sound. It is most often transmitted via airborne droplets from a cough or sneeze or direct contact with the respiratory secretions from an infected person. When it comes to symptoms, pertussis is most severe in infants. It can lead to pneumonia, apnea, neurological complications (such as seizures), dehydration and even death. Read More