Use This Information to Ease Immunization Concerns
If you are faced with a parent who refuses to immunize a child, we have some resources you might find helpful. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has put together information for doctors to help educate parents about the benefits of following an immunization schedule.
The information was compiled by Cincinnati Children’s Division of Infectious Diseases in response to the small but growing number of parents who are delaying immunizations or refusing them altogether because of fears that the vaccines cause illness.
"Parents choosing not to immunize their children are putting them at risk of getting infections that are far more serious than the risks associated with the vaccines,” says Robert Frenck, Jr., MD, a staff physician in the Division. “There is strong evidence showing that children who have delayed immunizations are less likely to ever catch up. Despite the recent publicity, there is no known benefit from delaying vaccination and no increased risk of receiving multiple vaccines at one time.”
The question of the MMR vaccine’s link to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has received the most media attention. Due to the timing of this vaccine, some people noticed the onset of ASD symptoms around the same time children received the vaccination and concluded that the vaccine was responsible. This belief was strengthened by a study published in 1998 by British physician Andrew Wakefield, who said the MMR, specifically the measles vaccine, caused autism. This study has since been discredited, and the co-authors of the study subsequently published a formal retraction.
In fact, more than a dozen studies have been published claiming that autism is not associated with receiving vaccines. “While doctors still do not know exactly what does cause autism, it is likely caused by many factors, including genetics, abnormal brain growth, environmental triggers and prematurity. Further studies to evaluate a link between vaccines and ASD is not beneficial and actually spends precious resources that could be re-directed toward research critical to understanding and hopefully preventing ASD,” states Frenck.
Dr. Frenck adds, “Parents should ask questions of their practitioner and read the handouts that are given prior to the vaccines. Parents need to know they are doing the right thing by immunizing their children. Any momentary pain of the shot will be replaced by the knowledge that they have given the life-saving protection provided by vaccines.”
