(HealthDay is the new name for HealthScoutNews.)
THURSDAY, Aug. 14, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Some say vaccines are vital if a child is to be safe from a barrage of potentially deadly diseases.
Others claim vaccines are a medical procedure that carry a risk of injury -- even death.
The debate between U.S. health officials and those who question the wisdom and safety of the nation's immunization program has left many parents confused, even frightened.
And it's a debate that takes on added urgency during August, National Immunization Awareness Month.
A recent survey of 1,000 new parents found 80 percent didn't know which shots their children needed. Or when. Or what the shots protected against.
Health officials say vaccines have become a victim of their own success. If diseases such as measles, diphtheria and whooping cough were to resurface unchecked, thousands of American children would die.
"Nobody likes to sit and watch a needle get poked into their beautiful infant. But if young children were to experience any of these diseases, they're always more severe at that age," says Diane Peterson, associate director for immunization projects at the Immunization Action Coalition in
St. Paul, Minn.
For children 2 years of age and younger, vaccines protect against such preventable diseases as chicken pox, diphtheria, measles, mumps and polio.
However, some 20 percent of the nation's 2-year-olds haven't had one or more of the recommended shots, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
"I think one of the difficult messages to get across to parents is how important it is to get their children started on time and keep them on schedule," Peterson says.
Another challenge to boosting vaccine coverage for kids: Keeping pediatricians, nurses and other physicians up to date on current regulations and timetables, Peterson says.
Typically, children get their first vaccines in the hospital just after birth, then during regular check-ups at the pediatrician during the first and second years of life.
The vaccines that health authorities recommend for children include:
- the first hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine before leaving the hospital;
- at 2 months, the second Hep B vaccine; the combined diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine; the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV); the first haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine; and the pneumococcal vaccine (PCV);
- At 4 months, the second DTaP shot; the second IPV vaccine; the second Hib vaccine; and the second PCV vaccine;
- At 6 months, the third DTaP; the third Hib vaccine; and the third PCV vaccine;
- at 12 months, the first measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, normally combined in one shot; along with a varicella vaccine to prevent chicken pox;
- the 15-month vaccines are the third Hep B vaccine, and the fourth Hib and PCV vaccines;
- at 18 months, the fourth DTaP vaccine, along with the third IPV vaccine.
Despite these recommendations, some question the safety of the vaccines.
The National Vaccine Information Center is calling for government funding of independent research into possible links between vaccines and neurological and autoimmune disorders, including autism, multiple sclerosis, asthma, diabetes and learning disabilities.
"What we're really calling for is more science and better science with regards to looking at these vaccines and how they may be playing a role in the rise in chronic diseases in our children," says Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the Vienna, Va.-based group.
She says sharp increases in autism, asthma and learning disabilities could be linked to vaccines.
"There's acknowledgement that vaccines can cause brain and immune system dysfunction. The question is how often it happens," Fisher says.
Because of their genetic makeup, some children may not be able to handle vaccines, Fisher theorizes. She also argues that doctors have manipulated children's immune systems with the introduction of more and more vaccines.
That's not to say Fisher's group opposes vaccines. What her group does oppose is a system that makes all vaccines mandatory and offers no flexibility.
"People like to dumb down this debate and make it black and white:
Either you're pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine," Fisher says. "We believe that consumers ought to have all the information they can get on the benefits and risks of vaccinations and be able to make informed decisions."
She asserts that health authorities know some children will be hurt by vaccines.
"A long time ago, the public health structure on vaccination adopted this utilitarian pseudo ethic -- some may be sacrificed for the greater good," Fisher says. "What they have done is said some kids are going to be hurt, but that is the price you pay for having the protection in society for these diseases."
Peterson counters that the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the risks, which she believes are minimal.
"There are concerns from what I believe to be a small but very vocal number of individuals who are concerned about vaccine safety and the possible side effects," Peterson says.
"But there has been study after study done that refutes these allegations. All of these vaccines are tested very carefully before they are licensed," she says.
More information
For more on vaccinations, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Institute for Vaccine Safety, established by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. To learn more about the National Vaccine Information Center, click here.
