The vast majority of parents vaccinate their children. However, those who don’t give their children life-saving vaccines to protect them against deadly diseases tend to get more than their fair share of the spotlight.
In New York City, there is an outbreak of measles currently. So far 19 cases have been confirmed of this highly contagious disease. Parents who have chosen not to vaccinate, along with people from a part of the world where vaccines are not readily available, have been to blame for the recent uptick in preventable diseases across the country.
Often one celebrity who comes out against vaccinations creates far more of a media frenzy than the thousands of parents who routinely follow their pediatrician’s recommendations and vaccinate their children on schedule.
Reality TV star Kristin Cavallari and her NFL quarterback husband, Jay Cutler, were recently swept into the debate when Ms. Cavallari announced she and her husband do not plan to vaccinate their two-year old son or their baby-on-the-way. Citing no specific research, she came to her conclusion because she has “read too many books on autism”.
The reality is that nearly all mainstream doctors recommend vaccinating children on the vaccination schedule set by the American Academy of Pediatricians. Some doctors even refuse to treat children who have not been vaccinated due to their parents’ presumably well-meaning but factually inaccurate assumptions.
Sydney Spiesel, a practicing pediatrician in Woodbridge, Connecticut recently wrote an op-ed article in Slate magazine letting readers know that in his practice, he has certain rules that apply strictly to parents who chose not to vaccinate.
He wrote, “It just seems unfair that one parent's well-intended but perhaps not well-thought-out decision for her own child should add risk for the lives of other children I take care of.”
Parents who are worried about vaccines most often fear these five things:
1. Dangerous side effects
2. Links to autism
3. Getting multiple shots at one time
4. Preservatives in the shots
5. Vaccines do not work
While all parent’s fears are acknowledged, doctors, researchers, and government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have all been able to ease these fears by proven medical research.
There have been no studies which have found dangerous side effects. The link between vaccines and autism has been discredited. Doctors have found that getting multiple shots, as well as the preservatives in those shots, have not presented any real dangers to children. And the data has been conclusive that vaccines do work to prevent diseases.
Vaccines are very well researched and are given to children to protect them against diseases that could kill them. The timing and efficiency of vaccines given to children at specific ages has been thoroughly tested and researched. Most experts agree that the danger lies in unvaccinated children contracting a preventable disease, not in any unproven “threat” present in vaccines.
Sources:
Shine.Yahoo.com. Web. Published 21 March 2014. “Moms want separate offices for non-vaccinated babies at the doctor—Do you?”
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/moms-want-separate-offices-non-vaccinated-babies-doctor-173400809.html
Pregnant.thebump.com. Web. 26 March 2014. “Top 5 fears about vaccines (and how to rest easier)”.
http://pregnant.thebump.com/new-mom-new-dad/newborn-basics/articles/vaccine-fears.aspx
Reviewed March 27, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith