Why Vaccinate?? Does MY kid really need the vaccine? The diseases are so rare, I don’t see the point. I don’t know how they work.
These and many many more questions are running through every parent’s mind. We at Blackmon Pediatrics understand the confusion and the fear in immunizing your child and want to help ease your mind and URGE you to immunize.
The recent Measles outbreak which started in Disneyland and is now rapidly spreading to other areas of the country, is a direct result of under immunization of our kids today. According to American Academy of Pediatrics, “the Measles virus is incredibly contagious. If you have NOT been immunized against measles and come near an infected person, you have a 90% chance of getting measles." When the measles virus was more common in the US, HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN died from the virus every year. And now, the virus has resurfaced for the first time in decades. If your child has not been immunized, they could be one of the fatalities. Or perhaps, they could contract the disease and pass it on to a child who is vulnerable. Some children are vulnerable because of problems with their immune system, or because they are too young to be vaccinated. It is heartbreaking to know that these vulnerable children may be at risk if parents refuse or delay getting their child vaccinated, allowing community immunization rates to fall below rates necessary to protect the whole community.
As a pediatrician, I am greatly concerned about the health and well being of your child. However, my compassion goes much deeper than your child alone, it goes out to EVERY child both in my practice and beyond. My heart breaks at the misunderstanding about the safety of these immunizations and the viruses and bacterial infections that might soon ravage our community.
As stated in a recent AAP newsletter, numerous studies have been released demonstrating that MMR vaccine is safe and effective. It is in fact one of the most effective vaccines we have.
So where, when and how did this vaccine scare start???
The scare about Autism and MMR was created by a fraudulent study done years ago. The study has been refuted, retracted and yet the fear of this unassociated link continues. The study was done by Andrew Wakefield in 1998, and the study was found to be fraudulent. It was a study of 12 developmentally challenged patients. There was clear misreporting of symptoms , dishonesty and Wakefield was charged with 12 counts involving abuse of developmentally challenged children. Other researchers have been unable to reproduce any of Wakefield’s findings or confirm his hypothesis of an association between MMR vaccine and autism or autism and gastrointestinal disease. In 2010, a medical panel ruled that Wakefield had failed his duties as a responsible consultant, acted both AGAINST the interests of his patients , and “dishonestly and irresponsibly in his published research." He was struck off the Medical Register in May 2010 and is barred from practicing Medicine.
Yet this one FRAUDULENT article has continued to cause fear and SPREAD OF DISEASE!!
Here is an article from Healthykids.org. Please read for more information on the Measles outbreak and the disease.
Next Blog topic Coming soon: How does an immunization work?
Kimberly Hicks, MD
Blackmon Pediatrics
