Plain Talk About Vaccinations – Misinformation Is Causing Rates of Some Diseases to Climb

Q: I’m about to give birth to my first child and have had some reservations over vaccinations. Now I hear in the news again from actor Robert DeNiro that he believes there is a link between them and autism. What can you tell me?
A: There has never been any link established between being vaccinated and the development of autism-spectrum disorder. Numerous meticulously designed medical research studies published over the past 15 years (which altogether have evaluated millions of children) time and again have concluded that no relationship exists between vaccines, such as thimerosal and/or ethylmercury, and development of autism.

Q. What specific vaccination are they talking about when referring to the link to autism, and what should I know about that vaccine?
A: The specific vaccine cited most often by those who continue to believe that vaccines cause autism is the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. This belief is based on a now-thoroughly discredited study published in 1998 by a British physician in which he suggested an association existed between MMR vaccine and the development of autism. His medical license was revoked in Great Britain in 2010.
The combination MMR vaccine was originally licensed for use in 1971, and otherwise healthy children should get one dose when they are between 12 and 15 months of age, and a second dose between 4 and 6 years old. The most common side effects include fever (which often occurs between one to two weeks after immunization, and may last for a couple of days) and rash (which occurs in about 1 in 20 people who receive the vaccine). Children who develop either fever or rash should not be considered ‘contagious’ or ‘infected.’ Giving MMR vaccine to children with egg allergy is safe, and no special testing or precautions are required prior to giving the shot.

Q: I hear so often that vaccines are safe, but how do doctors really know for sure? And, aren’t most serious infectious diseases affecting children rare today?
A: Before a new vaccine is licensed for use in children, it must undergo years of rigorous and methodical clinical research trial testing, which includes numerous study phases looking at safety, possible side effects, and the most effective dosing for children of a number of different ages. After a vaccine is licensed for use, ongoing surveillance and safety monitoring continue to occur because vaccines are held to the highest safety standards.
A number of serious infectious diseases affecting children today are rare specifically because of widespread vaccination. For instance, the number of measles cases in the U.S. before the measles vaccine was developed numbered about 500,000 per year, and fell to about 100 cases per year after the current recommendation of children receiving two MMR vaccines was put in place in 1989. Unfortunately, the number of U.S. cases has continued to rise significantly over the past few years, in large part due to those who choose not to have their children immunized.

Q: I had to get a whooping-cough vaccine shortly before my baby was born to protect him. Will I need other vaccinations that I should talk to either my primary-care doctor or my ob/gyn about?
A: It’s always a good idea to check with your primary-care doctor to ensure that your vaccinations are up to date, including the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine if you’ve never had chickenpox, and the mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine. These immunizations are usually not given to children until they are at least 12 months old, so the best way to keep infants safe from these infections until then is to make sure that you can’t catch those diseases and spread them to your baby. Breastfeeding after getting chickenpox and MMR vaccines has been found to be safe for infants, and should not stop mothers from getting their own vaccination records up to date.

Q. How about other people in my family? I’ve heard that it’s important for them to be up to date on vaccinations. Which ones? Is this meant for children, adults, both, some more than others? Why?
A: Being up to date on recommended immunizations is important for all members of a household. Vaccinating all new mothers with the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine is a step in the right direction; however, the last few cases of this infection I’ve seen in babies have occurred when fathers have had a prolonged cough illness. So it’s very important for fathers to be up to date, too.
Since a number of vaccine-preventable infections (such as meningitis and pneumonia caused by Haemophilus influenzae type B, or ‘Hib’) specifically affect young children, ensuring that siblings of newborns are completely immunized against those diseases will also help keep infants protected.

Q. Are there any particular resources you can recommend for me to read more about this topic?
A: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (www.cdc.gov) has a wealth of information for parents and healthcare professionals, while the National Immunization Action Coalition (www.immunize.org) also offers an extensive array of the most current vaccine-related literature for both healthcare providers and the public.

Q: Is there anything I didn’t ask that you think I should know about?
A: For those children who have grandparents who watch them, it’s important to remind grandparents to make sure that they are also up to date on their recommended vaccinations. New vaccination recommendations for adults greater than 65 years that have come out recently include giving a dose of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, in order to help prevent infections caused by the germ Streptococcus pneumonia, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, sinusitis, and a number of other types of bad infections.