Because three children have recently died from influenza while being detained in immigration camps along the U.S.-Mexico border, you would think U.S. officials would do everything in their power to prevent an influenza outbreak.
You would hope.
Instead, the Trump administration announced Tuesday that vaccinations would not be made available to those, including children, being detained along the border some for months.
The likelihood of children contracting influenza is higher than normal at the processing centers because of their unsanitary and stressful conditions.
Reports show the men, women and children living in crowded rooms where germs are more easily transmitted.
The longer they are detained, the more susceptible they become to illness. Stress is a factor. So are open the toilets and a lack of hot water or soap at some of the facilities.
For 2018, 423 detainees contracted influenza, according to Reuters news service.
The Centers for Disease and Control recommend that infants get their first influenza vaccine at six months, and then on an annual basis.
In a letter to Congress, physicians from Yale and Johns Hopkins recommend that all children, migrants and staff be vaccinated. The physicians also encouraged Customs and Border Protection officials to screen incoming children for influenza and to isolate and treat those that test positive.
No such protocols exist, according to the CBP.
Another flu season is just around the corner. To prepare, health officials recommend vaccinations before the end of October for when it typically peaks from December to February.
That something so effective and easy to procure and administer is being withheld from these people seems unnecessarily punitive.
Susan Lynn
