Pediatricians emphasize importance of well visits, vaccinations
Dr. Emily Kisor, BMG Pediatrician
It’s important that parents do not delay well visits or vaccinations for their kids and adolescents during the pandemic, because missing these appointments can have an adverse affect on their health.
Safety precautions remain in place at Beacon Medical Group offices as the community faces the new reality of dealing with Covid-19 in our everyday lives.
“If well visits are missed, we miss opportunities to screen development and mental health, and then may miss opportunities for education and for referrals to specialists or therapies,” said Dr. Emily Kisor, Beacon Medical Group Bristol Street pediatrician. “We’ve seen a significant increase in anxiety and depression in children through the pandemic.”
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The biggest long-term concern with missing vaccinations is that the “herd immunity” will weaken and result in the return of a preventable disease.
“Pediatricians are terrified that if families are not bringing their children in to get vaccines, that this could lead to a different global health crisis,” Dr. Kisor said. “We don’t want to have another measles outbreak or some other illnesses at the same time as Covid.”
The flu shot is very important this year. Doctors encourage everyone to get their flu vaccine before the peak season hits. “We are unsure what will happen with Covid and flu occurring simultaneously,” Dr. Kisor said. “We want to help lessen the severity and control anything that we are able to do.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics has stressed that care should not be delayed during the pandemic, even if it means having your child seen using telehealth. Dr. Kisor, however, emphasizes the importance of a doctor putting their stethoscope on a child’s chest, feeling their abdomen and noting their muscle tone during a well visit.
Oftentimes, parents come in thinking they don’t have any concerns until clinicians start asking questions.
“Families may come in thinking that they don’t have concerns, but when we as providers start to ask our questions, they realize that perhaps their child has been having quite a few headaches lately, or their child’s sleep has been rough,” Dr. Kisor said. “We screen development, growth and mental health. We also spend a lot of time being supportive of the families and you really can’t replace that face-to-face interaction.”
Increased safety measures remain in place across Beacon Medical Group offices, including patient and visitor screening upon entry, masking, dedicated rooms for patients who are sick, social distancing in waiting rooms, and frequent cleaning of shared space and in patient rooms, among other precautions.
Pediatricians like Dr. Kisor discourage families to “wait out the pandemic.”
“Everyone who is over 2 years old is required to wear a mask. And we are still asking families to wait in their cars until they are called to come inside for an appointment. We also have separate physicians seeing well and sick patients, and sick patients are seen in rooms in an entirely different hallway,” Dr. Kisor said. “We really have no idea how long ‘waiting out the pandemic’ might be, and the longer you wait, the higher the risks. It is very safe to come into our offices.”
