Vaccines save lives

Mothers are wise. They offer their families love, support, security and, for no additional charge, they also provide excellent medical advice. When our mothers told us, “A Stitch in time saves nine,” or “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” they weren’t just whistling in the dark. They were passing on a time-tested truth. It is always better to prevent a problem in the first place rather than wait for it to happen, then try to deal with the consequences afterwards. This wisdom certainly applies to childhood vaccines.
With a new school year starting, it is time to make sure your children are up-to-date on their vaccines. Vaccines, usually given as shots, are highly effective ways to prevent serious and sometimes delay illnesses. The vaccines available for infants and children can successfully prevent the following diseases: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, pneumococcus, hemophilus type B, influenza, rotavirus, meningococcus, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and human papilloma virus. Whew! That is a lot of diseases! Actually, vaccination programs have been so successful that many physicians and most parents have never seen many of these illnesses. Parents today did not have to live through the dark period before vaccines were available. During those years, which were not so long ago, these diseases were widely feared by parents and doctors alike, since they swept through communities and schools, affecting millions of children, causing thousands of deaths, and with little effective treatment available.
The development of vaccines is one of medical science’s best successes. By finding ways to prevent deadly diseases before they even start, doctors have been able to greatly reduce the burden of these illnesses.
Since vaccines are so marvelous, why am I using up precious space in this newspaper encouraging parents to get their kids’ vaccines done? It is because there is a small but growing number of parents who will not let their children be vaccinated because they feel vaccines cause serious side effects. Though most children in the U.S. continue to be vaccinated, vaccination rates are slowly declining. The proportion of parents who said vaccines are very important declined from 87 percent in 1999 to 80 percent in 2009.
It is perfectly reasonable that parents want to protect their children from possible harm. But a lot of unreliable information is being spread about the risks of vaccines. Unfortunately, this misinformation has convinced some parents that vaccines cause more harm than good. The decline in vaccination rates is starting to take its toll. Unvaccinated kids are beginning to experience higher rates of measles, rubella, polio, pertussis, and hemophilus type B.
A prominent concern has been whether vaccines may cause autism. This possibility has been examined repeatedly by doctors, but there is no evidence to show that vaccinated children have higher rates of autism than unvaccinated children.
So, what is the best way to insure our children’s safety in the face of potential deadly diseases? Offer them a stitch in time or an ounce of prevention. In other words, make sure they are up to date on their vaccines. By doing so, you may help avoid a possibly catastrophic medical problem.
Dr. Richard Fleming is regional medical director of Partnership HealthPlan of California.