With kids heading back to school and virus season around the corner, a leading infectious disease expert is urging parents to stay ahead of illness this fall—starting with vaccines.
Dr. Helen Chu, a physician at UW Medicine, said now’s the time for families to get serious about protecting their kids—not just from flu and COVID-19, but from vaccine-preventable diseases that are starting to resurface.
“I think there’s the usual suspects of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID,” she said. “But the other things that I would be particularly worried about this fall would be the vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and pertussis.”
Also known as whooping cough, pertussis is highly contagious—and both it and measles are making a comeback in some parts of the country. The reason? Fewer kids are getting vaccinated.
Dr. Helen Chu
“We need to have about 90, 95% coverage to achieve herd immunity for measles,” Chu said. “And those numbers are now consistently below 90%.” She added that in some counties in Washington state, the rates are even lower.
That’s a problem, she said, especially in places where large numbers of children are under-immunized.
“We’re going to start seeing more and more outbreaks of measles and pertussis.”
While most parents think about vaccines as a way to protect their own child, Chu said the benefits go far beyond the individual.
“You vaccinate to protect yourself, but you also vaccinate to protect those around you,” she said. “You often don’t know who has what underlying disease, who has cancer, who has other compromising conditions.”
COVID-19 is still circulating too, mostly in the form of the same Omicron variants that have been around since 2021.
“They may be a little bit more transmissible, but overall, you will be well protected if you get the vaccines that are currently available.”
For families with young kids, she stressed that early vaccination is especially important. Chu said that young children—particularly those under age 2—can get seriously ill from COVID.
“Their hospitalization rates are the same as adults who are 65 and up,” she said. “They get very sick.”
She recommends that all kids get their flu and COVID vaccines this season, and that families talk to their pediatricians about other available options, like RSV protection for babies. That could come from a maternal vaccine during pregnancy or a monoclonal antibody given at birth if the mother wasn’t vaccinated.
Despite federal guidance suggesting some children may not need the COVID vaccine, the American Academy of Pediatrics has taken a stronger stance.
“They have published their own guidance… and what they say is that all children under 2 years of age should be up to date on their COVID vaccines.”
Chu encouraged families to plan ahead and act early.
“I think just being very proactive, doing what your pediatrician is asking you to do in terms of getting your vaccines, staying home when you’re sick so you don’t transmit to others.”