I thought my son had a cold. It was COVID-19

Frye said her shock when she learned of her children’s diagnoses is reflected by many people right now. As we enter back-to-school season, families across the country are understandably on the alert as cases of COVID-19 and its emerging variants increase.

I totally understand [that confusion], it’s really, it’s a surreal era that we live in and such a real time, you know what I mean? she said.

This stress of all feeling a little too much for parents and families right now is something that she says can be relieved once you feel equipped with the information you need to ask your healthcare professionals the right questions.

Frye has thought a lot lately about the need to make health and wellness a priority. Back in the days when she was dealing with her recent family health crisis, she was also the famous face of a new awareness campaign, Ask2BSure, which aims to allow parents to ask their family doctor about vaccines against meningitis B, a rare form of bacterial meningitis.

When asked why it is important to be part of a campaign to give parents the tools to know about life-saving preventive vaccines, Frye said it all comes down to his children, including his eldest daughter, who has recently turned 16.

I actually didn’t know about meningitis B, if I’m really being honest, she says. I realized that if I hadn’t known about it, I realized that there are other families who don’t know.

Fryes said after a conversation with her daughter’s pediatrician, she decided to get her daughter vaccinated.

Frye added, I would say last year with the pandemic, I would spend a lot of time trying to educate myself more, educate myself more, and I would say it’s been a learning experience.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that surround the spinal cord and the brain.

There are two types of vaccination against the forms of meningitis that can be prevented with vaccines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) for all children 11 to 18 years old. As a general rule, children aged 11 or 12 are recommended to receive one dose of the vaccine, with a booster at 16. These are the A, C, W and Y strains of meningitis.

People aged 16 to 23 can also receive a meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) vaccine against meningitis B, which has only been in existence since 2014. The preferred age for administering this vaccine is 16 to 18 years old, the CDC States.

Dr Frank Esper, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Childrens, told Healthline that there is a wide range of recommended vaccinations that should be on parents’ radar for their children.

He said vaccine-preventable diseases are one of the leading causes of death around the world. Additionally, in the United States, where vaccines are widely available, it is important that people, especially children, receive the vaccines they need when they return to schools, colleges, and workplaces in the United States. all the countries.

Esper, who is not affiliated with the Fryes campaign, said one of the main talking points of the hesitant vaccine critics is that there are too many vaccines being demanded of people. This is not really the case.

Often, when you get a vaccine for the first time, you will have several different protections. For example, when you get vaccinated against measles, you get protection against measles, yes, but also mumps and rubella, he explained.

There are a lot of things we can prevent, from the more serious things like meningitis to conditions so pervasive we have to keep them under control, things like chickenpox, he added.

Public concerns about vaccine safety are widespread. However, from tetanus vaccines to newer COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccines are rigorously tested for their safety and efficacy. Only after careful consideration are they officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

For any questions about what vaccines to get for yourself or your children and loved ones, Esper recommends the CDC website and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Frye, a beloved childhood public figure of many parents raising children today and a mom, said she was excited to use her platform to advocate for vaccines.

She said she wanted to demystify asking your doctor questions about the proper course of action to take when vaccinating your child for a disease like meningitis B.

It’s really about sharing information, empowering families so that we can have a dialogue, we can ask the doctor, can ask the healthcare provider about [vaccinations], she said. It’s about encouraging us to have this ongoing dialogue.

Esper is adamant that anyone 12 years of age or older who can get a COVID-19 vaccine does.

He pointed out that COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be safe and have been given to more than 170 million people.

[Those who are vaccine hesitant] say, you have not tested the security. Well, you know, our hospitals don’t fill up with people with vaccine-related issues, they fill up with people who haven’t been vaccinated and have contracted the virus, he said.

Esper said there are side effects to COVID-19 vaccines as with any vaccination program or drug. He said if you gave 170 million people penicillin, you would no doubt see people having allergic reactions to the drug.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad drug, it just means that there are side effects to every type of drug, he said. Tylenol would be the same.

In addition to being part of the new meningitis B vaccine awareness campaign, Frye has worked with those on the front lines of COVID-19. She is a member of the board of directors of CENTRAL response, the disaster relief and crisis response organization co-founded by fellow actor and longtime friend Sean Penn. The central mission of nonprofits is to help underserved communities around the world.

Since the start of the pandemic, CORE has administered COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites in communities hard hit by the pandemic.

I would say that next to my children, this is certainly the work of which I am most proud to be a part. Working with CORE has been one of the greatest honors of my life. In the event of a disaster, our team responds, she said.

Frye said that once COVID-19 hit, CORE stepped up.

The next day we knew our medics were in a stadium with 800 team members a day, she said. I remembered the first day I arrived and seen this line of hundreds and hundreds of cars lining up, and you realize when a collective group of people come together what we can do as a individuals and as a team. Each of us can make such a difference.

Today, Frye said her children are doing well past the initial fear of those positive diagnoses.

She explained how important it was for her to go public with her story because she wanted people to know how COVID-19 can impact anyone.

I thought my son had a cold, I thought it was just a cold or a fever, you know? I didn’t know it was COVID, she added.

She said it was important to open clear lines of communication between parent and doctor, between parent and child, child and doctor, and vice versa. If we fail to clearly communicate our concerns and questions, our health and well-being will not be properly taken care of.

I think it’s important for us to remove the stigma around so many things so that we can have open dialogues about vaccinations, to have open dialogues about mental health, to be able to have open dialogues about so many things. issues we face and know we’re not alone in these things, Frye said.

You and I might have differences of opinion, but that’s what real democracy is: being able to have these conversations openly, and I think that’s extremely important.

She concluded that parents should trust their instincts.

As parents [its important], to know that it is our right to ask these questions of our doctors and providers, she said. You know there are things in us, in our instinctive nature sometimes as a parent, you just know something, and you go with it, and it’s good to ask questions and not be afraid.