Vaccines Important for Children's Health

As August winds to a close, parents and children are getting ready to go back to school. In between buying supplies, trying on new clothes, and sorting out schedules, there is another important step to prepare -- getting every child vaccinated. Making sure that school age boys and girls are up to date on their vaccinations isn't fun, but it's absolutely necessary for the public health and the health of the child.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of diseases that had once been all but eradicated. These diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, are more than just inconveniences and economic drains; they can cause lasting damage and even kill.

Most states, including New York, require children entering schools to be immunized against formerly endemic diseases, such as measles. Unfortunately, a growing number of parents are claiming exemptions from these requirements, putting not just their children at risk, but their entire community.

It is important that everyone who can get vaccinated does, because some people -- like very young children, pregnant women, and the immune compromised -- cannot get vaccines. By vaccinating as many people as we can, we create what is called "herd immunity." Herd immunity helps stop the spread of infections, and protects those who can't get vaccines.

In 2008, one quarter of those Americans who contracted measles -- a potentially fatal disease -- had claimed exemptions from vaccinations, but another quarter were too young to be vaccinated. This second group needed herd immunity to protect them from these dangerous diseases.

I know that many parents have heard stories about the dangers of vaccines. But rest assured that vaccines are as safe as they can be, and the risks that unvaccinated children face are far greater than the risks of the vaccines. No reputable study has ever found evidence that vaccines cause autism, and the rate of poor reactions to vaccines is extremely low.

I also know how painful it is to get these shots, both for children and their parents, but the alternative is far worse. Vaccinations protect both our children and those who cannot protect themselves from diseases that no one wants to experience again. Please get your children vaccinated. If you have questions about where to get vaccination shots, or are worried about the cost, please contact the New York State Vaccines for Children program at [e-mail] or [phone].

Comments

[dugmaze]

It's a real shame that parents can't get their questions answered. Either our elected officials don't care or a part of the problem.

[dugmaze]

Rep. Louise Slaughter,

I'm a concerned parent and the proud father of an autistic child.
I started researching faults, cures, causes for my son's autism. Everything leaned towards vaccines.

Now, I'm almost convinced that vaccines are the cause of illness in modern countries.

Would you please explain to me the following link on vaccine death rates over time:
http://www.healingourchildren.net/Are_Vaccine_Safe/vaccine_side_effects_fall_in_death_rates.gif

I keep asking this question but have yet to receive one answer from a reputable source.

Thanks. The work you do in New York is seen all the way out here in Illinois.

[kwombles]

Doug,

Perhaps you don't get answers because you're using sources that aren't credible and the conclusions you have drawn are not supported by the facts. But I suspect you know that already.

You're certainly smart enough to not believe the statement that you've made above regarding vaccines being the CAUSE of illness. Now, had you posited that adverse reactions are underreported, you would have had a leg to stand on, but this places you squarely with Moffie, a place you've made clear you're happy to be.

There, I bit, just for you. :-)

[dugmaze]

No offense Kim, but that's the typical response.

Attacking the information I posted doesn't help anyone with questions concerning vaccines. Proof will.

"the conclusions you have drawn are not supported by the facts"
I never said they were supported by facts.
I said, "I'm almost convinced" and,"would you please explain to me".

When we see disease that used to be reserved for older people showing up in younger people, that's a reason to question.
When we see a 1200% increase in autism from 1993-2003 in Illinois, that's a reason to question.
When we see babies die within hours after vaccination, that's a reason to question.
When we see parents with EVERY child on the spectrum, that's a reason to question.

" I'm almost convinced that vaccines are the cause of illness in modern countries. "
Water and access to healthcare are the number one sources for disease in developing countries. Not the lack of vaccines.
So why do we have an increase in childhood disease in developed countries? We have access to healthcare and complete vaccinations.

[Annieke]

Why is it that the whole 'vaccines cause autism'-debate only takes place in the US?
I have never heard anything like that in The Netherlands and the Dutch federal vaccination program has a very wide range. During my childhood I got shots almost every two to three tests. And although not pleasant, it would go too far to describe them as painfull.

The only people in The Netherlands who do not participate in the program are the conservative Christians who feel that vaccination goes against Gods wishes.

[MNmommy]

The anti-vax crowd are much like the birthers and deathers.

They extract all kinds of "truth" from tidbits of prevarication.

It's sad to watch. So many desperate parents willing to believe absolutely anything. The paranoia is rampant and disturbing.

Vaccines do so much more good than bad, but the sad reality is that there are some folks that experience tragic side effects - it's a horrible sacrifice for the greater good.

[dugmaze]

"The anti-vax crowd are much like the birthers and deathers"

Funny that's what they think of you.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

Vaccination must be mandatory. No religion on earth tells its practitioners to not vaccinate, so there must not be any exemption based on religion. When pubic health is at stake, as it very much is, there is no excuse for not vaccinating anyone who can be vaccinated. To fail to do so should carry a mandatory fine and/or prison sentence.

[calamityjohn]

One thing that struck me immediately about this post was the use of fractions and percentages instead of actual numbers ..

I can only find reporting on the first half of 2008 as far as cases ... but according to the CDC there were 131 measles cases in the United States in the first half of 2008 .. doubling that for a 262 estimate for the whole year means that out of a US population of 304,059,724 ... 0.00008616­7282056731­718 % of the population got the measles last year .. and of course these are cases not fatal cases ...

These numbers include the 17 cases that were imported .. and the 99 that had some link to importation .. and as the representative states only a quarter of those cases involved the unvaccinated ..

all the articles will tell you this number is way up .. but with such a low rate I would think even multiplying exponentially could be an anomaly ..

In 1996 I watched my sons language fall away from him like leaves from an autumn tree .. he was left with under a half dozen words ... It was an experience beyond my ability to communicate .. It has left my son to face more challenges every day than I have faced in my lifetime. I certainly hope the representative feels the chances of a vaccine to autism link are smaller than 0.00008616­7282056731­718 %

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/other/news/apr2109measles-br.html
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/measles.aspx

[sixyfivepercentwater]

"It was an experience beyond my ability to communicate. . ." I'm sure it was and is. The problem with statistics is that if you're the one who is affected it's 100% real. However, the risk/benefit ratio of vaccination remains the same. There is of course no way to know how many cases of measles we will get if children are not vaccinated, but there is no reason to wait to find out. There is also no direct link between vaccination and autism, which of course doesn't change your reality or give you any comfort.

[calamityjohn]

sixyfive: I didn't mean to post my comment as a reply to yours .. hit the wrong button .. sorry.

[jcause28]

Thank you for this post. There are too many people, for one reason or another spreading the anti vax message on another post. They don't realize just how much they are gambling with other peoples lives.

[smallbizrunner]

Oh, okay. Any reservations and suspicions I had about vaccines I realize now are silly because a CONGRESSWOMAN told me they are all safe! How much money did they pay you to write this?

Give me a break, please. Give us all a little more credit.

[jcause28]

Give the scientists and medical researchers some credit. We dont need your conspiracy theories. We need good science. By promoting this ant vax lunacy you are risking the health of other peoples children.

[calamityjohn]

good science is compromised by millions upon millions of dollars of political influence peddling far more than it is by conspiracy theories.

[dugmaze]

"Give the scientists and medical researchers some credit"

orthopedic surgeon accused of falsifying the results of a study :
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/education/story/C307570B4DF7501986257618000A23DD?OpenDocument

Drug Chief at the FDA Is Accused Of Conflict
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125003545637224263.html

Penn Medicine To Disclose Doctors Drug Ties
http://www.pharmfree.org/news?id=0013

[sixyfivepercentwater]

Do your own research and then get back to us.

[Tommy5677]

You would do well to print the other side of the story. The assertion that vaccines are as safe as the can be, is ridiculous. Tell that to the parents of children who have been irrevrsibly damaged by them.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

There is no other side to this story, or at least no other side that makes any sense. There is a slight risk from any inoculation, but intelligent and responsible people weigh that risk against the reality of the disease that the inoculation prevents. The autism paranoia has been debunked ad nauseum.

The reason we need to have very strict laws about inoculation is there are still nutters out there who have heard some rumors and became hysterical and who are now endangering the rest of us with their ignorance.

it's really quite ludicrous that we would need to consider passing laws to make people safeguard their own lives, the lives of their children and the lives of their friends and neighbors. It's really only common sense.

[waitforme]

You don't know at all if 'these vaccines are safe' i heard a statistition say that the relatively small (he says) number of people who die from (emphasized) the vaccine is negligible compared with the numbers saved. Impossible to know how many are 'saved'.

Instead vaccines, such as the intensely-promoted hpv vaccine for young girls, which was only tested (on whom or what?) for five years before going on the market. No one knows what immefiate or long- term effects may occur -- for a disease which can only be contracted by sex -- with a male who has it. Why not develop a vaccine for boys in that case? State legislatures are being pushed to mandate hpv vaccones for all 11-year old girls in schools -- without mandating or funding longitudinal studies to determine its effects on girls' bodies and reproduction outcomes.

This unconscionable. Every new vaccine is an experiment. Each body reacts differently. Some safe vaccines even are going to be manufactured with the occasional glitch and actually cause the illness.

The same with flu vaccines.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

"Why not develop a vaccine for boys in that case?" Um, because boys don't develop cervical cancer?

It is not "impossible to know how many are 'saved'" with vaccines. We know the fatality rate of measles and other diseases. We know how the infections are spread. You're the one who doesn't know the facts about this issue.

[avicenna]

Antibiotics and vaccines have proved to be powerful arsenals against infectious diseases, and they both carry risks and have been abused by overuse for prophylactic reasons. We should really weigh the pros and cons for vaccination carefully - if you haven't noted - there has been an epidemic rise in immune-mediated disorders (such as autoimmune disorders and serious allergic reactions against inert substances - like peanuts and wheat). Is it a coincidence that this has paralleled the growing use and number of vaccines a child is subjected to? Are we taking away the ability of the immune system to decipher between non-threatening antigens and serious pathogens by conditioning it to respond to microbial antigens in the absence of infection with the use of powerful adjuvants? Let's not be blind to the evidence and reason - and let's act with the power of information on our side - and let's make sure this info comes from a source that is free from conflict of interest.

[dugmaze]

Excellent post!

[SaltySaltillo]

Don't take this the wrong way, but the concept of "herd immunity" is logically incoherent. Individuals are immune or not immune. There is no such thing as an entire herd collectively losing its immunity to a disease as a result of a handful of members not having immunity. Further, it seems to me unvaccinated children are only putting other unvaccinated children at risk, not "the entire community", as Rep. Slaughter alleges.

Finally, Rep. Slaughter ignores what is a growing source of concern among some: namely, that the number and frequency of "required" vaccines has been increasing over the years and the age at which doctors give these vaccines to children has been creeping forward. Vaccines that 20 years ago doctors recommended administering to 4 year olds (before they started kindergarten) are now being given routinely to 15 month old babies because privately run day care facilities are demanding proof of vaccination. Medically discretionary vaccines like chicken pox are now being mandated to all children. I am not alleging that any of this is unsafe without any factual basis to support me, but I am suggesting that allegations that a there is no limit to the number of, frequency of or age at which vaccines can be given based simply on a handful of studies that investigate the particular effects of individual vaccines studied in isolation is baseless as well.