Vaccinations have been a hot button topic for some time, but with school starting in a few weeks, many uncertain parents are revisiting the question: Should I immunize my child?
Vaccinations have been a hot button topic for some time, but with school starting in a few weeks, many uncertain parents are revisiting the question: Should I immunize my child?
While the internet is a wonderful way to spread information, it is not always the best source of accurate information, especially in the area of vaccines. Blogs, disreputable sources and anecdotal evidence abound in the area of immunizations.
As a pediatrician, I consider it my duty to share the most accurate medical information I can in order to keep your child safe and put your mind at ease. Because there is so much out there about vaccines, I wanted to talk to the highest-level expert I knew and get to the bottom of some of your burning questions. This took me to Dr. Candice Robinson at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dr. Robinson is the workgroup lead for the child/adolescent immunization schedule for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices group at the CDC. She is also a pediatrician. We recently had a great conversation on my podcast. We talked about everything from the MMR vaccine and autism to the HPV vaccine to what is actually in vaccines. I highly encourage you to listen to the full conversation here:
Here are a few of the key questions I asked Dr. Robinson. Some of her answers may surprise you.
M: Many parents I see and hear from are afraid of giving their children immunizations. Can you discuss why vaccines are important?
R: The recommended immunization schedule protects children from 14 different serious diseases before their second birthday. While some vaccine-preventable diseases are no longer common in this country because of vaccines, some vaccine-preventable diseases like pertussis, or whooping cough, and chicken pox remain common in the United States.
M: Many parents want to wait and start vaccinations when their children are in kindergarten because they fear vaccines will mess with their immune system. Is it OK to wait and vaccinate your children later?
R: Before entering school, young kids can be exposed to vaccine-preventable diseases from parents or other adults, their siblings, on a plane, at a childcare center or even at the grocery store, and children under five are especially susceptible to diseases because their immune systems haven’t built up their defenses to fight the infection, so you don’t want to wait to protect your children and risk getting the diseases when they need protection now, before they get into school.
M: Tell me about the MMR vaccine and the misinformation that’s out there about it.