vaccines for kids: are they safe?

Answer:  To protect them from a large number of serious diseases

The successful development of vaccines represents one of the greatest success stories in medicine. Vaccines have saved millions of lives. In the US, vaccines have virtually eliminated polio and measles while sparing large numbers of children from the discomfort and risks caused by infections ranging from chicken pox to whooping cough (pertussis) and mumps. Across the US each year, vaccinating our children can save more than 30,000 lives and prevent more than 10 million infections.

Early vaccination is important. Most vaccines protect against diseases that tend to strike in early childhood. In addition, that is the time that children are most susceptible to serious complications from these illnesses. Falling behind on the vaccination schedule puts kids at risk.

Answer: Yes

As long as there have been vaccines, there has been controversy concerning their safety. No medical treatment is 100% safe. When it comes to vaccines, the right way to phrase the safety question is this: “Are vaccines safer than the infections and diseases that they seek to prevent?” The answer is, “Yes.” It is far safer to prevent the development of measles than it is to forego vaccination and risk getting the infection. While an occasional person may experience a minor reaction to vaccination—discomfort or swelling at an injection site, mild fever—serious reactions are extremely uncommon.

Answer:  No

In 1998, a prestigious medical journal published a paper that reported on 12 autistic children; the authors of the paper suggested that the autism was caused by childhood vaccinations. This was a complete fabrication. The paper was subsequently withdrawn, and the lead author lost his medical license. Vaccinations do not cause autism.

Answer: No

In order to gain the protection provided by a complete vaccination schedule, a child will have more than 30 vaccinations. Some worry that this much stimulation of the immune system could be harmful. However, scientists have demonstrated that there is no risk to the immune system from these vaccinations.

The full vaccination schedule exposes a person to 150-200 immunologic stimuli (also called antigens). For comparison, in the first months of life, a baby’s body will come into contact with trillions of bacteria, and each bacterium has 2,000 to 6,000 potential immunologic stimuli. A simple ear infection poses a greater challenge to the immune system than does a vaccination.

Of more concern to kids (and some parents) is the actual number of shots. Ask your pediatrician about “combination vaccines,” as this can reduce the number of injections.

Answer: You can’t count on herd immunity.

“Herd immunity” occurs when large numbers of people are vaccinated; the vaccinations prevent an infection from gaining a foothold in a population. But, as you can imagine, if large numbers of people in a population are unvaccinated, an infection can take hold.  A recent California outbreak of measles traced to exposure at Disneyland illustrates the danger of going unvaccinated; most of the measles cases occurred in unvaccinated individuals. The safest strategy is to get vaccinated and benefit from the dual protection of both the vaccination and herd immunity.

Answer: From a public health perspective, most medical and political leaders have concluded that the greater good is best served by requiring some vaccinations.

While the majority of states allow certain exemptions (e.g. based on religion), our kids are best protected if virtually everybody is vaccinated. As a growing number of people decide not to have their kids vaccinated, we are witness to a resurgence of diseases that had been virtually eradicated from our country. For example, new cases of measles and whooping cough are springing up.

If you have concerns about vaccinations, raise them with your pediatrician. Most doctors are happy to listen to parents’ concerns, as their goal is the same as yours—to ensure the best health for your kids.