The Value of Vaccines
"Anti-vaccine furor," as Mark Schleiss, MD, likes to call it, is nothing new. He points to objections as far back as the days of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister. So the highly publicized fears about immunization safety that have surfaced in the last few years come as no surprise to him.
While acknowledging parents' concerns, Dr. Schleiss, associate professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, has one message for parents: Vaccines are the safest way to accomplish what diseases do naturally – create immunity in a child against microorganisms that cause diseases.
Although state law mandates many immunizations, most pediatricians follow even more stringent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"When a doctor urges certain immunizations, parents need to realize that the doctor has no vested interest in pushing these shots," says Dr. Schleiss, whose vaccine research is being funded by the National Institutes of Health. "Doctors actually lose money when they administer vaccines. What motivates them is a higher sense of moral purpose, the welfare of their patients."
Proven Benefits
Today's parents have little perspective on the good that vaccines have done, he says. They need only look to their grandparents' childhoods to realize the number of diseases vaccines can prevent. "In terms of lives saved by vaccines, the numbers are staggering." Smallpox, a deadly disease, was almost eliminated in the 1970s. Vaccines have also led to progress in controlling measles, mumps, whooping cough, tetanus and certain strains of flu.
Dr. Schleiss acknowledges that in the mid-80s, it was "worrisome that some shots, such as for whooping cough, were associated with unfavorable side effects." After studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health, drug companies developed safer vaccines.
Making Sense of the Myths
The latest anti-vaccine effort has been to link a sharp rise in autism with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shot.
"The original study by British surgeon Andrew Wakefield has been discredited as sloppy and inaccurate," says Dr. Schleiss, "but the myths about the connection have taken on an air of believability."
Unfortunately, those myths have done their damage. Measles immunizations are down in the United States and Great Britain. Some public health officials are seriously concerned about what will happen when measles cases re-emerge among unvaccinated children.
"Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans, so it doesn't take much to start an epidemic," he says.
While some parents question the safety of vaccines, others see government-mandated immunization as infringement on individual choice. "Sometimes you have to sacrifice personal liberty to save lives," counters Dr. Schleiss.
Cost-Effective Prevention
Given ever-increasing costs of health care coverage, immunizations, in the long run, are cost-effective, he notes. "Every dollar in the health care system spent on vaccinations saves $5 to $20, depending on the disease."
Although parents may associate vaccines with young children, even teens can benefit from some shots. The meningococcal vaccine, which for many years was limited to military recruits, is now recommended for anyone "living under the same roof in close contact with others. College students living in dorms fit that description," says Dr. Schleiss.
He urges parents who are wavering about the value of immunizations for their child to learn more about the diseases that could lead to death without them.
"Any child could step on a nail and get tetanus. Vaccines can make the difference between life and death."
Quite simply, Dr. Schleiss believes, quoting the 2004 motto for National Immunization Week, vaccines are "an act of love."
