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VACCINES CONTINUE TO BE VITAL IN PROTECTING CHILDREN'S LIVES
Called "society's greatest health care achievement" by many, vaccines are modern miracles that have saved hundreds of thousands of children from suffering, disability and death. In earlier generations many children contracted communicable diseases like polio and whooping cough, often with devastating consequences. Some children died; others were left with permanent disabilities. But the development of vaccines has made many of these childhood illnesses relatively rare and has improved the health and well-being of millions of people. "The overall number of children who contract preventable diseases is down 99 percent since the early 1970s," says American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) President Louis Z. Cooper, M.D., FAAP. "Still," he continues, "if even one child dies from an easily preventable disease, it's one child too many." Because vaccines have become a routine part of good preventive health care, people don't often think about what life would be like without them. Thanks to the polio vaccine, introduced in the 1950s, parents no longer live in fear that their children will develop life-threatening paralysis from polio contracted at a swimming pool or movie theater. Since the pertussis vaccine became available in the 1920s, children have not had to suffer through the weeks of persistent coughing spasms known as whooping cough. And relatively few of today's young families have seen a case of the measles. Unfortunately, some parents have become complacent about their children's immunizations. They wrongly assume that because immunizations have prevented certain diseases for so many years, the diseases no longer exist. And some parents have been frightened away from properly immunizing their children by reports of possible side-effects associated with certain vaccines. Vaccines are safe, but like any other medicine, they can occasionally cause reactions. Usually these are mild, like a sore arm or a slight fever. Serious reactions are rare, but they can happen. The important thing to remember is that the dangers associated with vaccine-preventable diseases are much greater than any risk associated with the vaccines themselves. The potential consequences of not receiving immunizations are very serious. Studies show that approximately 20 percent of children aged 19 to 35 months are not up-to-date on their immunizations, and low-income and minority children are at the greatest risk of under-immunization. These children are in danger of contracting many life-threatening illnesses, including hepatitis B, pneumococcal infections (such as certain types of pneumonia and meningitis) and measles. The history of measles in the U.S. offers an example of how well immunization works, and of the dramatic effect that ignoring vaccines can have. Before the measles vaccine became available in the 1960s, the disease killed 3,000 children a year in the U.S. It also caused 48,000 children to be hospitalized each year. Childhood immunization against the virus reduced the number of cases by 99 percent following licensure of the vaccine in 1963. But just a decade ago, even though the vaccine was widely available, measles immunization rates dropped. As a result, there was an outbreak with over 55,000 cases reported, more than 11,000 hospitalizations and 125 deaths. Says Dr. Cooper, "Not fully immunizing children is one of the most serious and potentially fatal mistakes a parent can make with a child's health. If we let our guard down, these children may die from preventable diseases. Vaccinating children on schedule is one of the easiest and most important steps parents can take to maintain their children's health." For maximum effectiveness and protection, immunizations should be administered at specific ages. Children should receive most of their childhood immunizations before their second birthday. There are 12 potentially serious diseases against which vaccines protect: measles, mumps, and rubella; diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox), hepatitis A, and pneumococcal disease. At least one shot is required for each of these immunizations, and for some of them, several doses are required for the best protection. (See immunization schedule in box.) This adds up to a lot of shots, and several are usually given at the same time. Some parents worry that it's not safe to give several shots at once, or that they may not work as well, or that they will overload the child's immune system. But studies have shown these fears to be unfounded. Vaccines are just as safe and just as effective when given together as they are when given separately. Several "combination vaccines" already exist (such as MMR for measles, mumps, rubella, and DTaP for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) in which multiple vaccines are given in a single shot, which reduces the number of shots needed. More combinations are being developed, so in the future, even fewer shots will be needed for the same number of vaccines. The success of immunization is due to the effectiveness of the vaccines as well as their extensive use in the population, reflecting the importance that most parents and doctors place on protecting children from dangerous diseases. However, the level of childhood protection that's been established is a fragile one that depends on "community immunity." "Community immunity" works like this: If sufficient numbers of children in a community are immunized, the vaccinated ones protect the unprotected by stopping the chain of transmission in its tracks and drastically lowering the probability that the susceptible child will encounter the bacteria or virus. Unprotected children include infants, who have not yet received most of their immunizations, as well as a small percentage of children who have illnesses that prevent them from receiving some vaccines. As long as the great majority of children receive their vaccinations, the level of disease control the U.S. population currently enjoys can be maintained. However, should the level of community protection drop to a point where viruses and bacteria travel unimpeded from person to person, from school to school and from community to community, families will return to an era when deadly epidemics were an everyday part of life. The good news is that among parents of young children in the U.S., support for immunization is strong. For example, when asked on a recent survey to rank,--on a scale from 0-10,--the importance of immunization for protecting a child's health, 87 percent of parents ranked immunization a "10," meaning that it is extremely important. Adds Dr. Cooper, "Parents want what's best for their children and as a parent or grandparent you should discuss immunizations or any other concerns you may have with your pediatrician, the person to whom you have entrusted your child's care." You can also find
more information at the following Web sites:
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