Rexall.ca | Back-to-School

Rexall can help prepare your child for back-to-school

August is a busy month. With the end of summer approaching, a new school year in sight and families in back-to-school planning mode. Whether it’s shopping for a new wardrobe, stationery and supplies or new technologies and gadgets, parents want to ensure their child has all the essentials to kick-start a successful school year.

Some back-to-school supplies are less obvious than others. Your Rexall Pharmacist can help prepare your child for back-to-school to ensure a healthy year. Here’s how:

Managing asthma

During the September back-to-school period, children and teenagers face greater exposure to asthma triggers such as viral infections and allergens like dust mites, molds, animal dander and ragweed. ¹ Your Rexall Pharmacist can work with you and your child on asthma management for the back to school period and all year round.

Your child may need to be fitted for a new Aerochamber. A proper fit ensures maximum delivery of medication and may reduce the need of rescue doses. Aerochambers are important to ensure delivery of medication to the airways and is suitable for all age groups.
Help your child understand his/her asthma by teaching them how to use their rescue inhalers and other medications properly and how to monitor their daily symptoms. Your Rexall Pharmacist can provide you with device training to show you how to correctly use the inhaler.
Children with asthma are at higher risk of flu complications. The best protection against the influenza (flu) virus is the flu shot. Ensure your child and everyone in your home receives their flu shot, available at your local Rexall Pharmacy during the month of October.
Teach your child the importance of correct hand-washing techniques to avoid the spread of germs and viruses.

Managing allergic reactions and anaphylaxis

Allergic reactions or anaphylaxis can happen anywhere. The key factors for lowering the risk of a reaction are to create awareness of the severity of the allergies amongst other students, friends and teachers, ensure appropriate medications are always readily available and avoiding allergens which will trigger a reaction.

Use tags or labels to identify your items as allergen-free, such as Mabel’s Labels, whose mission is to make it easier for parents to help create the awareness of their child’s allergies with their allergy name tags.
If your child suffers from severe allergies, there may be a risk of a life-threatening anaphylaxis reaction occurring. Be sure to keep at least two epinephrine auto-injectors around and ensure that it is easily accessible. Make sure your child’s fellow students, friends and teachers know how to administer epinephrine auto-injectors.
Ensure the epinephrine auto-injectors are not expired. You can use the EpiPen^® Expiration Reminder Service to help you stay up to date on the expiry date of your child’s EpiPen. Additionally, your Rexall Pharmacist can also set a reminder for refill based on your auto-injector expiry date.
Your Rexall Pharmacist can provide a quick demonstration and device training to show you how to use an auto-injector. Alternatively, your child can demonstrate to their Rexall Pharmacist how to self-inject to ensure proper technique.
Avoiding allergens altogether can be a challenge. Rexall offers a variety of school safe snacks to make it easier to choose the right snacks for your child. School safe snacks are typically labelled or marked with a symbol on the packaging, such as “peanut-free” or “gluten-free”. It’s important to read the full ingredient list on the packaging to ensure the snacks are safe for your child.

Ensure your child is up to date on important vaccinations

Help your child start the school year off as healthy as possible, by ensuring he or she receives important vaccines. Vaccines are an important tool against the spread of diseases and can help lower your child’s risk and keep others around them protected and healthy too! 2 Some vaccinations require boosters and certain age groups are more prone to specific infections. Check with your Rexall Pharmacist to determine if your child may benefit from any vaccinations.

At Rexall, all our Pharmacists are injection trained. Your Rexall Pharmacist offers in-store flu shots. To ensure your child is up to date on important vaccinations, your Rexall Pharmacist can also administer a wide range of vaccines based on assessment. * No appointment necessary! Speak with your Rexall Pharmacist for more information.

Your child will require different vaccinations depending on their age. Speak with your Rexall Pharmacist about the important vaccinations that benefit your child.
It is important that you stay current regarding your child’s vaccines. Keep a record by ensuring your child’s vaccination/immunization card or app is up to date.
If you are visiting your Rexall Pharmacist to have your child vaccinated, remember to bring your vaccination/immunization card with you, or ask to be shown how to download an app to manage your vaccination records.

The start of the school year is a fun and exciting time for children. Rexall makes going back-to-school for your child simple and stress-free. Speak with your Rexall Pharmacist to schedule an appointment to discuss your child’s healthcare needs and to review all of their medications.

*Based on vaccine availability and where permitted by provincial legislation. Pharmacist cannot administer a vaccine to children under a certain age; ask for age restrictions. Charges may apply.

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