Parents: Vaccinate Your Children

I’m baffled. Utterly. Last week, New York City began vaccinating elementary school children against the H1N1 virus. The vaccine is optional but free; parents need only provide permission.  So, are parents sending in their permission slips en masse?  No. Citywide, according to The New York Times, less than half of the eligible parents are giving the schools’ permission to inoculate their children.  In at least one school, only five percent of parents opted in.

This lackluster participation rate corroborates poll results released this past month by CBS News, ABC News/Washington Post, The Associated Press and Consumer Reports.  These studies found significant numbers of parents planning on foregoing the H1N1 vaccination for their children, citing concerns about the vaccine’s safety. 

Never mind that the risk of serious side effects is extremely rare while the risk of contracting H1N1 this winter, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is somewhere between one in 10 to one in four, depending on a person’s risk factors.  Or, that up to 40% of the U.S. population could be afflicted within two years without widespread vaccination.

As a mother of three, I certainly understand a parent’s reluctance to be the first to immunize their child with a new vaccine.  With each inoculation, a parent weighs the benefits of immunization against the risk of his or her child becoming the statistic: the one that has an adverse reaction or worse, dies.  I’ve wrestled with that equation multiple times – but I’ve always landed on the side of vaccinating my children.

In part, my decision is driven by my own personal medical history.  A full decade after polio was eradicated in the United States – thanks to widespread immunization of school children – I contracted polio as a toddler in South Korea, at a time when the vaccine was not available there.  And, I was not alone.  Polio was so rampant in South Korea in the 1960s that separate orphanages were built just for us children with polio.

And, while my personal history is an enigma for my peers in America, their parents understand and know it.  Before the advent of vaccinations, Americans routinely lost family members or friends to diseases like polio, rubella, tuberculosis, measles, mumps and more.  My adoptive parents certainly did: an older sibling died of tuberculosis in the late 1920s; a cousin died of polio in 1946; a friend’s child was born with congenital rubella syndrome in 1965.

It’s why older Americans want the H1N1 vaccine.  The same week that New York City officials were trying to convince young parents to inoculate their children, officials in Los Angeles County and Chicago were urging people over 60 to forego the vaccine for now; to allow the limited supplies to go to the highest risk groups first: children, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems.

But parents born after 1970 don’t know about these diseases first hand.  They have the luxury of protection and ignorance: they grew up with vaccines and without pandemics.  Yet, throughout the developing world – and in pockets of the U.S. where people are refusing vaccinations – diseases that can be eradicated through immunization still exist with deadly results: tuberculosis, measles, rotavirus.

As we enter winter and the flu season, I hope these parents will reconsider and immunize their children. If they are in doubt, they should ask their parents or grandparents.  After a generation of experience – not to mention rigorous, scientific longitudinal studies -- we who have first hand knowledge, know an indisputable fact: vaccines save lives.

 

Follow Anne Mai Bertelsen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/annemai

Comments

[hp blogger Anne Mai Bertelsen]

Wow. Well, first, thanks for reading and sharing your comments. A couple of thoughts though -- for those who believe this is just the flu. It is and it isn't. This particular flu is a variation of the influenza of 1918 which wiped out 40-50 million world wide. That influenza, sometimes referred to as Spanish Flu, disproportionately impacted young people, just like H1N1. People under the age of 24 are at greater risk because they lack the antibodies to fight off the H1N1 virus.

The rubella outbreak in 1964-65, did not kill that many people. They got sick and were uncomfortable but they recovered. Pregnant women, infants and toddlers though were dangerously impacted: they lost their babies, gave birth to babies with significant mental and physical developmental disabilities; infants and toddlers suffered from mental retardation to hearing, sight and heart impairments.

We know so much more about influenzas, pandemics, and vaccines. Let's take advantage of that new knowledge and protect ourselves. The trade-offs are great.

[hardrain77]

A recent Council on Foreign Relations meeting where they discussed ways to coerce the public to take the vaccine. Among them was the notion of creating "artificial scarcity" to hype and worry the public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSAjT2soxKY

[ellen09]

I am a NYC parent with a kid in public school. Do I trust the reality of what I see and hear, or the hype of the CDC and the industry pushing the vaccine. This is NOT the same as polio for god's sake. It's a flu. People have had it in my office, (3 out of 200) and in friends & neighbors offices. Kids have had it at school (a handful out of hundreds) and guess what. THey have a cold and flu, they rest and get better. The reason parents aren't blindly signing up is because it ISN"T polio, or a major epidemic. It's a flu strain. The solution is not always inoculation. If you eat well, sleep well, exercise, etc., you will might get it and you might not, but you will be able to fight it. If you eat junk, don't sleep or take care of yourself, your natural inclination is going to be to run to a pharmaceutical. Parents have common sense and smell a hoax.

[andyw77]

"If you eat well, sleep well, exercise, etc., you will might get it and you might not, but you will be able to fight it. " I wish this were true, but not everyone does well with infections even when they follow good hygiene, sleeping and eating habits. It is far better to prevent the illness than to try to fight it. I'm glad your friends have done well, but all do not. As I mentioned previously, only since April there have been 129 DEATHS in children from H1N1.

The vaccine HAS been tested and it is made the same way as the regular flu vaccine. Testing showed no side effects different than the usual vaccine.

There is no hoax (and I am a somewhat cynical physician). And no, I will not make a penny from the vaccine as I will be unable to get it to give. (I own no drug company stock, either). I am, however, spending a lot of time with patients talking to them about the vaccine.

Please, protect your children, yourself (and me!). Get vaccinated.

[mbaty]

Vaccines are a wonderful idea, and they can provide benefits to people, just like in the Polio vaccine. But we are miles away from the Polio vaccine, and people are either 1.Not scared enough of a pandemic that seems to be occuring only on the news or 2.Not scared enough of getting the flu because they've recently had the flu--which, just like the CDC, they assume is the H!N! 3. They find the processes of development of the swine shot to be lacking and the ingredients of the vaccine highly questionable. We know the manufacturers have legal immunity. And we know that vaccines are big business. Given the trend of our society towards for-profit medicine and padded medical bills, is it any wonder Americans are skeptical?

[Sheldon101]

This is largely an exercise in futility because those vocally opposed to flu vaccination have made it part of their core beliefs and almost nothing can change their minds.

But if you haven't made up your mind. Here are some facts.
1. In the US, same stuff for all 4 vaccines going back to 2007-2008 flu season. They just change the viruses used to make vaccine.
2. More testing than usual on H1N1 vaccine for safety
3. Get vaccinated even if you had the flu. Why? Because it may not have been the flu and boy will you be sick if you got it wrong and there's a good chance you did.
4. All around the world, gov't want vaccine. Even Iran has ordered 2 million doses and is building a plant to make it themselves starting May 2010.

Flu Vaccination: Those in favor of won't mislead you.

[davism97]

Anti-vaccine hysteria has completely swept our nation, but vaccines are a proven and safe way to prevent disease. Yes there is some risk involved (VERY MINOR risk), but the benefits are enormous. I was starting to think the entire Huffpost community was irrational. Thanks for posting this article.

[jamespoling]

I've been waiting for this story to be posted and it was not in vain. Thank you for sharing your story, not only is it extremely touching, it's spot on. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your story.

[maab76]

I will be foregoing the H1N1 preventive care. The vaccine has been cultured in egg yolks. Each application of such vaccines has given me a stronger and stronger alergic reaction. The last, nearly 50 years ago kept me virtually bedridden for nearly 4 months. Not only was I allergic to the vaccine, but I would have been killed with the medication which would have reversed the reaction: penicillin!
If you have such an allergy, have your medical provider determine the presence or absence of that allergy.
Have your children immunized as recommended by your health care provider.
Research the disaster of the measles on the native populations in both mainland US and particularly of Hawaii if you doubt the wisdom of immunizations.

[Sheldon101]

I suspect you're wrong about it being a reaction to eggs. Even at its most extreme, allergic reactions don't put people in bed for 4 months. At worst, you die because your throat gets so swollen you can't breath.

It might have been a reaction to the vaccine. But the flu vaccine is, even for a vaccine, incredibly safe.

Talk to your allergist.

[emidesu]

Penicillin doesn't reverse allergic reactions.

[andyw77]

Midasgurl-This is early in the flu season for the regular flu, so statistics are not available yet, but the percent dying from one flu or another is not relevant. WE want to stop death from all of them. The CDC reports 129 confirmed pediatric deaths from H1N1 since April and a rising incidence of H1N1. See http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm . Most medical sources feel this is more deadly than the regular flu, at least partly because of our lack of previous exposure. You note that "But so does just about anything else that attacks your immune system" and we like to prevent other attacks on the immune system, too.

You say we don't realize our "bodies were actually created to fight most diseases." We fight many, but we often lose. That is why vaccinations for polio, smallpox and childhood diseases are done and without them, many people get sick. We (not me personally) have eliminated smallpox from the face of the earth by vaccination and it previously killed millions. Another example: our bodies do not successfully fight HIV by themselves.

a riot-- The FDA does indeed regulate vaccines-see their site FDA.gov. The first page will lead you to vaccine information. The H1N1 vaccine has been tested in people.

[a riot]

This is one of the dangers when you have a revolving door between government and industry. Everyone starts to question the motives of government agencies and stops trusting their data. Is this an effort to protect the public or is it an effort to sell millions of ineffective yet profitable vaccinations? Since the FDA doesn't require any testing of vaccines, and you can't sue a pharmaceutical company if you have any adverse events, there isn't much incentive to make sure they are safe and effective before releasing them to the public and making billions (off the taxpayers).

[Midasgurl]

andyw77, I don't doubt that the swine flu can kill people. But so does just about anything else that attacks your immune system. You quoted the death in NJ, did you try to find out how many other people in her zip code died that month of the regular flu? Or anything else for that matter?

I think people have been taught to depend on medication instead of realizing their bodies were actually created to fight most diseases. Again, I don't see any evidence of the deadliness of swine flu. And from those who went through this in 1976, seems like pretty much the same hoopla. I've nothing against vaccination, but I also observe that (especially in the US) they have gone out of control. Look, we don't have wait for everything to crash like what we just went through with Wall Street before we can call corporations on their greed and profit-mindedness at the expense of the masses.

[emidesu]

Midasgurl: "Again, I don't see any evidence of the deadliness of swine flu." Uh, dead people are not evidence of deadliness?

[andyw77]

Ms. Bertelsen's piece is very accurate and important (disclosure: she is a neighbor). I appreciate her candor about her personal experiences. As a physician, I am eagerly awaiting my vaccination. The injected vaccine has been tested and is not different in safety from the usual flu vaccine (which I have annually).

A 17 year old died of swine flu in NJ 2 weeks ago; some have been very ill with it and some mildly ill.

We "older folks" may have some protection from prior exposure to similar viruses, but younger people have not had this and do not have pre-formed antibodies or an immune system primed to respond to this virus.

Midasgurl: "do we really need to "run and eat" chemicals"-well everything we eat is a chemical and the virus itself, in some sense, is a chemical and it gets into us whether we want it or not. I do not feel like a guinea pig as the vaccine has been tested on thousands of people. Good sanitary practices are very important also.

Crwells said "the regular flu kills 30,000 people every year." That is a lot of dead Americans from the flu and I want it to be less with the flu AND the H1N1. Pneumonia vaccine is not given to young people with normal immune systems because they usually can handle the bacterial pneumonias.

If you don't get vaccinated, it increases my risk of getting the virus, so there is a public health element.

[Midasgurl]

Vaccines have their place of course. But do we really need to "run and eat" chemicals at the slightest scare of disease? If somebody can show me any evidence of this so-called deadliness that is supposed happen due to swine flu, maybe I'd reconsider. So far, I've known people who've gotten it and they all claim it's no much different than the regular flu. If someone already has a weak immune system, anything could be deadly of course.

Why aren't you encouraging people to do simple sensible natural things to strengthen their immune system? Or do we automatically turn to quick fixes. Sorry, those who want their children to act as guinea pigs, feel free to volunteer them. My doctor is not even letting his kids get this shot, that says something to me.........

[Sheldon101]

If you've got a normally behaving immune system, you don't want to mess around with it. Fortunately, I don't think there's much you can do to strengthen it with any of the alternative medicine potions.

Vaccinations don't strengthen or weaken the immune system. They simply do the same thing as a natural infection, except they avoid all that messy getting sick and possibly having complications.

All vaccinations do is eventually create the memory T-cells (just like a normal infection) so that when your body is invaded by the real thing your body knows how to quickly defeat the invaders. What on earth could be more natural?

Flu Vaccination: The Natural Way to Prevent Infection

[emidesu]

Why don't you learn something about how the immune system works instead of throwing wild speculations around the internet?

[crwells]

I'm not boycotting the flu vaccine because I think there might be negative side effects -- I'm boycotting it because I don't think it is something I should worry about. Maybe I'm completely wrong -- time will tell.

Like I always say when talking about this, the regular flu kills 30,000 people every year. I don't believe this flu will be any worse.

We have also had people at work get the flu already this year. When they saw their doctor, they were diagnosed with Swine Flu without doing any blood work -- simply because it wasn't regular flu season yet. Because of this, I seriously doubt that this flu is any different than past/present/future flus.

If you want to protect your child against everything, have you gotten them a pneumonia vaccine yet? Pneumonia isn't a new or exotic ailment, and we've had vaccines for it for quite some time. If you haven't gotten your kids vaccinated against pneumonia, then you have to ask yourself why you are getting them vaccinated against this new flu (why get one without the other if both are available)? Could it be that this H1N1 is being blown out of proportion?

[Sheldon101]

Before you write it, research it. Please.
The simple answer is that the kids have been vaccinated with Prevnar
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/2009/09_0-6yrs_schedule_pr.pdf
http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?doc_id=13982

Let's see: Cost: 0 in money, some time
Benefit: Over next two years 30-40% chance of getting infected. If infected, will be, at minimum, sick for a few days.

As for number of dead, they're still dead. I personally think that a few hundred kids dead is something to be concerned about it.

This kid had a great smile.

Vanetia Warner Cornwall, Ontario
10-year-old Vanetia Warner passed away on [October 26th]at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario after being diagnosed with H1N1 influenza. She attended St. Anne's Catholic School in Cornwall and was in good health before contracting swine flu.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/10/27/ott-flu-cornwall.html

Flu Vaccination: One unnecessary death is too many.

[crwells]

According to the chart in the first link, the pneumonia vaccine is only given to high risk groups after the age of 2. Since I am a high risk person, I know that you have to get it again ever 5-7 years. So...I'm not really sure I was wrong in my assertion that if you want to protect your kids against everything, you should get them vaccinated against pneumonia -- yet most people don't. Before you try to dispute somebody's point, research it. Please.

The point I was making was that people generally don't get their children vaccinated for pneumonia. Then you provided a chart showing that I was essentially right -- that after the age of two, most children aren't vaccinated any more for pneumonia. I'll admit that I didn't realize that babies are vaccinated, but I still don't think that invalidates my point.

Looking at your comment history, it looks like the swine flu vaccines are your sole reason for being. Good for you for having a cause!! But I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of the latest thing that's going to end the world -- as stated, it doesn't seem like a very high risk to me.

We could prevent all traffic accidents if we'd just get rid of cars.

Walking: One unnecessary traffic death is too many.

[crwells]

This girl has a great smile too...hopefully she will survive the deadly pneumonia. Why aren't people getting vaccinated against this easily preventable disease?!

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20320971,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+people/headlines+(PEOPLE.com:+Top+Headlines)