LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The spread of diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella is a concern for pediatricians across the country. 


What You Need To Know

  • Pediatricians stress the importance of child well visits

  • It's important for all your children's vaccines to be up-to-date

  • With the return of in-person instruction, parents should make sure to get their children's health checked

  • Doctors fear a resurgence in diseases long held in check.

 

In Louisville, Dr. Sayeed Khan said he believes many pediatrician offices like his at Norton Children’s Fern Creek are in the same boat when it comes to not being at the level they’d like to be at for wellness and vaccine visits.

“We are now starting to have a little bit of a pick up of patient population coming in to get their checkups. But, I’m sure we are significantly behind where we used to be,” said Dr. Khan.

Social distancing and mask mandates have kept flu cases in children in check, but Dr. Khan said that is likely to increase with a return to in-person instruction.

What he doesn’t want to happen is for diseases the community has previously had a handle on to experience outbreaks.

“Measles, mumps, and rubella are ones that we have seen outbreaks of randomly across the country in years previously prior to the pandemic,” he said.

Dr. Khan understands families want to minimize the risks of exposure to COVID-19. He wants families to know that safety is a top priority for patients when they come in. He doesn’t want that fear to lead to health problems down the road for you and your children.

“A lot of parents have not wanted to bring their kids in for concerns of possibly getting the coronavirus but we don’t want to put them at a risk of acquiring other illnesses that can also be important to prevent,” he said.