Vaccines are one of the most successful public health advancements humans have made. For children, today’s vaccines can mean better, safer childhoods free of deadly or debilitating illnesses. In medicine, greater safety usually comes with some tradeoffs. For new parents, that trade-off includes a concern over the number of shots their child receives. This concern may lead some to avoid vaccinating their children, but that decision includes risks far greater than from any vaccination regimen.

During the 20th century, medicine and health were transformed by the discovery of vaccines. Before vaccines, parents could expect that every year (U.S. figures) polio would paralyse 10,000 children; German measles (rubella) would cause birth defects and mental retardation in as many as 20,000 newborns; measles would infect 4 million kids, killing 3000 of them; pertussis (whooping cough) would kill 8000 more, mostly under a year old. Add in Diphtheria, Hemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and others and the scene is much darker than our reality today.

Successful vaccination programs are victims of their own success. Few parents, even physicians, today have ever seen cases some of these diseases. The rarity or absence of measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria and tetanus may suggest that we no longer need to protect against them. The opposite is true.

Vaccines are still given for three main reasons. First, to prevent common infections. Some diseases are so common that not being vaccinated is a choice to get infected for example, chicken pox. Second, to prevent infections that could easily re-emerge. Without immunization, Hib, measles, rubella, mumps could quickly break out in a community. Third, vaccines prevent infections that are still common in other parts of the world. Although we may have completely or partly eliminated polio and diphtheria, frequent travel and worldwide immigration mean an outbreak could be only a plane ride away.

Advances in immunization science has meant an increase in the number of vaccines available to children. Still, some new parents express concern over the number of shots their child is facing. Only 15 years ago, by age two, children received five shots, never more than two at a time. Today, a child could receive as many as 20 shots by that age as many as five in one visit. Where there used to be seven common vaccines, there are now 11.

One concern parents have is whether their child’s immune system could be overwhelmed by so many vaccines. The quick answer is ‘definitely not!’ While their mother’s womb is free from bacteria and viruses, from the moment they emerge into the light, a baby encounters thousands of bacteria living on its skin and in the lining of its nose, throat and intestines. By quickly making immune responses to these bacteria, the baby prevents them from invading his or her bloodstream and causing disease. In fact, with their billions of immunologic cells, babies are capable of responding to millions of different viruses and bacteria. Vaccines in the first two years are but a drop in their immunological ocean.

But what about the alternative of not vaccinating? That decision is almost the same as choosing to become infected. It’s that simple. But at what cost? Pneumonia from chickenpox? Mental retardation from Hib? Birth defects from rubella? Liver cancer from hepatitis B virus? Or death from measles? Seems like a poor choice.

- 30 -

Call-out: “Only 15 years ago, by age two, children received five shots, never more than two at a time. Today, a child could receive as many as 20 shots by that age - as many as five in one visit. Where there used to be seven common vaccines, there are now 11.”