As the end of summer nears, two things happen with great reliability in southern Indiana. The corn gets tall, and my phone starts ringing with parents who need a physical signed by Friday.

I understand completely. The summer gets away from all of us. But if I could give parents one piece of advice before the first bell rings, it would be this: the annual well-child visit deserves a spot on the back-to-school list, right up there with the new backpack, as well as the shoes that fit in June and mysteriously do not fit in August.

Why the well-child visit is important

A yearly physical is more than a signature on a form. It’s a chance to see whether your child is growing and developing the way we’d expect, to make sure vaccinations are current, and to confidentially talk through balanced meals, sleep, exercise, and any worries about learning, behavior, or mood. It’s also when we can knock out those annual forms, the ones that always seem to turn up in a folder the night before they’re due.

As a reminder on vaccines, Indiana requires certain immunizations for school attendance, with additional ones at key grade levels. These include kindergarten, sixth grade, and twelfth grade. That list generally includes DTaP/Tdap, polio, MMR, chickenpox, hepatitis A and B, and the meningococcal vaccine for middle and high school students.

Since they don’t come up every day, that may sound like a lot, and parents oftentimes have questions. This is one of the reasons it’s good to have a direct conversation with a qualified medical provider.

Addressing physical issues that can inhibit learning

Vision and hearing are worth a look, too. In three decades of practicing medicine, I have never once had a child walk in and announce in a voice that only children have, “Doctor, I believe I need corrective lenses.”

What I hear instead comes from parents: “he squints,” “she gets headaches,” or “he asks us to repeat everything,”

The point? Sometimes the difficult issue that seems to come across like a school problem is really an eyeglasses problem.

When you should connect with the school nurse

If your child manages asthma, diabetes, allergies, or seizures, please connect with the school nurse before the year starts. Send updated medication orders, refresh emergency contacts, and check the dates on inhalers and epinephrine auto-injectors. Expired rescue medication in the nurse’s office does nobody any good.

School issues:  simple worry, or attention-sapping anxiety?

Mental health belongs on the list as well. Going back to school brings excitement and, for plenty of kids, a knot in the stomach. Ask how they’re feeling about it. Ask about friendships, about bullying, about what they do when something feels like too much. If you notice changes in sleep, appetite, mood, or behavior that stick around more than a couple of weeks, a one-on-one talk with your provider is a good idea.

The rest is old-fashioned and still true. Think about starting bedtimes and wake-ups a week or two early, because nobody adjusts to a 6:30 alarm overnight. Children ages 6 to 12 need nine to twelve hours of sleep; teenagers need eight to ten. Eat breakfast. Move every day. Put the screens down before bed. Wash hands, cover coughs, skip the shared water bottle, and stay home with a fever or a stomach bug.

And you athletes: drink a lot of water, wear the gear, and tell a coach immediately about any head injury.

Finally, don’t wait. Schedules usually fill fast as summer comes to a close, and the calendar always wins. Call now, and help your child start the year healthy, confident, and ready to learn.

Board-certified in family medicine, Curtis Thill M.D. has seen multiple generations of children at Southern Indiana Community Health Care on their way back to school.

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Can you name a highly contagious virus with no known cure that spawned epidemics and killed multiple millions of people? We don’t think about it much today, but the now-eradicated threat from the deadly smallpox virus once wreaked havoc upon numerous millions of people, leaving a trail of death, disfigurement, and blindness across the globe.

Despite its fearsome reputation, smallpox was officially declared eradicated in 1980. How did that come about?

No known cure

While there is still no known cure for smallpox, a highly effective vaccine was developed and administered around the world. The ancient plague was stopped in its tracks. The same is true of polio, once a feared incurable childhood disease that can lead to irreversible paralysis. Only a few cases of polio are reported worldwide each year, due to effective vaccines and public health campaigns.

These critical advancements demonstrate the importance of timely vaccinations for both personal and community reasons. Being vaccinated in an appropriate way can help protect both you and your family, including friends and community members.  

Why is this important? In addition to protecting you personally, effective vaccines help limit the spread of a disease to those who are more vulnerable. These include infants, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems. 

Today, the flu season is upon us. We also see patients with pneumonia, RSV, and shingles who could have benefited from a timely vaccine. And as you can see in the news, a new XEC variant of Covid-19 has appeared, which could elevate new infection rates as we approach winter, the time when COVID-19 infections and related hospitalizations tend to peak.

The point? Effective vaccines – including a new updated COVID-19 vaccine – are now available for the flu, pneumonia, RSV and COVID-19. They help boost and train your immune system to effectively fight such diseases.

Elevating health, saving lives

Considering whether to get vaccinated? Here’s an important fact: many vaccine-preventable diseases – like pneumonia, RSV and even the flu – can quickly lead to both severe medical complications and longer-term health issues. 

Complications from an ordinary flu infection can lead to complicated respiratory problems that can be difficult to treat.  If you delay a measles vaccine and come down with the disease, that infection can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and even prove deadly.

Being properly vaccinated can greatly reduce the potential for more challenging issues. Your medical provider can answer any questions that you may have (such as whether you should be vaccinated if you’re pregnant) and can make informed recommendations.

As a long-time physician working in southern Indiana, I – like many other providers – know from experience that vaccines offer an effective and cost-effective way to both prevent disease and promote health. Vaccines represent a critical aspect of strong public health. They are called a cornerstone of public health for good reason. Compared to the cost of treating a disease (especially in an advanced state) the cost of a vaccine is much lower.

Vaccine hesitancy 

During the COVID-19 crisis, a considerable amount of distrust arose from misinformation, especially on social media and certain podcasts. That situation unfortunately led to some hesitating to receive vaccinations, which has the opposite effect of increasing the possibility of higher rates of infection and loss of protection.

As noted at the beginning of this column, vaccines for smallpox and other viruses have caused these incurable and often deadly diseases to basically vanish. They have high value. We recognize that in some cases not all vaccines are necessarily 100% effective, but we also recognize from experience that the benefits of making an informed decision and getting properly vaccinated can literally save a life.

Want to promote good health? Talk to your provider today about vaccine options.

Board certified in family medicine, Yolanda Yoder, M.D. has served patients and families in southern Indiana for more than 30 years.

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