August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and parents always have questions about vaccine safety for their babies and children. So, I will try to explain some of these concerns here.
Very soon after babies come into this world, we are asked to give them vaccines. At around 2 months of age, children could get as many as five separate shots containing seven vaccines.
For some parents, all of these shots can seem overwhelming.
Are Vaccines Safe ?
A vaccine is safe if its benefits clearly and definitively outweigh its risk. But any medical product that has a positive effect- whether it is a drug or a vaccine-can have a negative effect. So no vaccine is absolutely safe. All vaccines that are given as shots can cause pain, redness, or tenderness at the site of injection.
And some vaccines have very rare, but more serious, side effects. For example, the chickenpox vaccine contains gelatin as a stabilizer. Some people are severely allergic to gelatin and develop severe allergic response to the chickenpox vaccine. Symptoms can include hives, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, and even shock. That's why doctors and pharmacists often ask their patients to stick around for about 15 minutes after they get vaccines- because this type of severe allergic reaction, although quite rare, happens very quickly.
But, while there are small risks to vaccines, nothing is risk free. Probably the most dangerous aspect of vaccines is driving to the doctor's office to get them. Every year about 30,000 people die in car accident. So, even routine daily activities pose a certain degree of risk. We choose to do them because we consider the benefits to outweigh the risks.
Do we still need vaccines ?
Yes- we still need vaccines for three reasons :
1- For common diseases like ( chickenpox, pertussis, or pneumococcus ) , a choice not to get vaccines is a choice to risk natural infections. For example , every year thousands of children are infected with pertussis and some die from the disease. Therefore, its important to get the vaccine.
2- Some diseases ( like measels, mumps, or Hib ) still occur in the united states at low levels. If immunization rates drop, even by as little as 10-15% , these diseases will come back.
3- While some diseases ( like polio, rubella, or diphtheria ) have been either completely or virtually eliminated from the united states, they still occur in other parts of the world. Because international travel is common, these diseases are only a plane ride away from coming back into the United States.
Do vaccines cause autism ?
The notion that vaccines cause autism was launched on february 28, 1998. That is when researchers in England published a paper claiming that the combination MMR vaccine caused autism.
Other scientists tried to find the same results but, couldn't. More importantly, twelve studies have produced no evidence that children who receive MMR vaccine are at greater risk of autism than those who have not.
Then, one year later, in 1999, The American Academy of Pediatrics, asked that thimerosal, a preservative be removed from all vaccines given to young children. Parents became really concerned, they reasoned that maybe it was thimerosal, not MMR, that was causing autism.
Six studies examined the risk of autism in those who had or hadn't received vaccines containing thimerosal, the chances of getting autism were the same in both groups.
Three other studies found that thimerosal in vaccines didn't cause even subtle signs of mercury poisoning.
Are children too young to get vaccines ?
If infants aren't too young to be permanently harmed or killed by viruses or bacteria, then they aren't too young to be vaccinated to prevent those diseases.
Fortunately, infants given vaccines in the first few months of life are quite capable of making a protective immune response.
You can think of a vaccine as being like a seat belt. Its possible that in an accident your child's seat belt could cause a minor injury, like a bruise. That's a side effect of wearing one. But, if you measure the risk of wearing a seat belt against the risk of not wearing a seat belt, the decision to wear a seat belt is an easy one.
Some people believe that living a healthy lifestyle- eating nutritious foods, getting plenty of exercise, and taking daily vitamins-is enough to avoid infections. Although good nutrition is important, specific immunity to a virus or bacteria can only be acquired by natural infection or immunization-And, the price of natural infection is too high.
Stay well and healthy . Dr. Naghmeh, Pharm. D.
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