From the moment we become parents, we work to keep our children’s environment safe. We child-proof our homes and make sure poisons and dangerous objects are secured wherever our kids spend time. But we aren’t always as diligent about making sure the community spaces where our children learn and play are protected from threats we can’t see, like infectious diseases.
Just this fall there was a vaccine-preventable disease reported in my son’s 2nd grade cohort. When he started kindergarten a couple years ago we were told the class was 100 percent up-to-date on immunizations, so I got done worrying about things like exposures to chicken pox, measles and mumps from his classmates. We know vaccines aren’t 100 percent protective, of course, but I took stock in knowing that his class of children was protected as best they could be.
So, when I heard about the case of chicken pox, it reminded me I needed to check back in.
Because he’s fully immunized, I wasn’t worried when I heard the news about this case of chicken pox (varicella vaccine has a high vaccine effectiveness, with 98 percent of children protected after two doses). But it got me thinking that I needed to contact the school and see how we’re doing. Not just on the state-mandated vaccines, where we scored 100 percent a couple years ago, but on influenza vaccine, too. Often we have no idea the percent of a class that is protected on this essential, every-year vaccine.
Influenza and complications from the infection are hardest on infants and young children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions that make it harder to deal with the infection. Depending on the season, influenza causes anywhere between 4,000 and 50,000 deaths a year in the US. Thankfully, each year only a couple hundred of those deaths are children. The flu vaccine is recommended for ALL infants and children ages 6 months & up to protect them from the infection, their community, and severe complications. Even though the nasal flu mist isn’t recommended this year, now is still a great time to get your children and family immunized leading up to the holidays.
More than ever before, clearly articulating that you vaccinate your child and that you want your child amid a group that does the same is essential.”
Although we know 9 out of 10 parents immunize their children based on the AAP and CDC schedules, we know the public often feels like many more children aren’t getting vaccines. I’m haunted by the data published in Pediatrics in 2011 that found that more than 1 in 4 parents (28%) who followed the recommended schedule seemed to think those children whose parents who didn’t – who delayed vaccines or followed an alternative schedule — were safer. Not a single study finding a delayed or alternative schedule is safer and yet here we are with many parents following our recommendations but not entirely trusting them. Yuck. All those parents who immunize need to speak up.
To me, there is no question that pediatricians’ time and passion communicating truths and opportunities with vaccines will always be time well spent. Recent data out this year proves it: a third of vaccine-hesitant parents change their mind and agree to have their child receive a vaccine after their doctor provided vaccine education. But there is something else in me that knows, over time, we’ll tighten the gap on trust with parents when their peers step up and demand higher vaccine rates in their schools, their playgrounds, their communities, and even their play dates. When pro-vaccine parents share their feelings of trust, support, and desire to have a community up-to-date, that’s when we’ll reach the 95 percent level we want.
Pediatricians and parents can partner unlike ever before and with tools unlike we’ve ever had to make sure the spaces where our children spend their days is as safe as possible.”
Knowing where you live and how your community is doing on vaccines and speaking up about what you believe matters. More than ever before, clearly articulating that you vaccinate your child and that you want your child amid a group that does the same is essential. Check out your state’s data in the AAP infographic. Get even deeper into the data with online resources like School Digger that allow you to peruse the data on vaccine status at the school level.
Pediatricians and parents can partner unlike ever before and with tools unlike we’ve ever had to make sure the spaces where our children spend their days is as safe as possible. Speak up, ask about rates at your schools and tell other parents how much you value vaccines that protect your children and their friends.
Karen says
The anti-vaxers are always concerned about their child being exposed to vaccines, but they seem to forget the children who can’t be vaccinated due to major health risks to an underlying condition (i.e. heart transplant). Those children are at serious risk for complications related to a vaccine preventable illness. When less children are vaccinated, herd immunity (which the anti-vaxers depend on) goes away. I have seen the diseases the vaccinations prevent and offer that experience to those who ask “what do I think?” I think vaccines save many lives because I saw those diseases take them away.
Public Health - Seattle & King County says
Thanks for encouraging parents to find out the vaccination rates in their children’s schools, and to talk about it with others in their school community. In King County, WA, you can look up immunization rates for schools on our interactive map: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/communicable-diseases/immunization/child/school-immunizations.aspx
Melissa H. says
I live in a small knit community and am a member of a faith based denomination. I have seen firsthand how one or two parents within a group of parents can negatively influence vaccine decisions. These are usually mothers who sell supplements and are self proclaimed “health and wellness advocates”. The information shared can spread like wildfire and leads to other parents making misinformed decisions when it comes to deciding on the very important issue of preventing disease and illness for their children. There was recent legislation (HB2009) that would have strengthened our public health laws and made for safer healthier communities but unfortunately it died before ever reaching the Senate. We need more public health officials, pediatricians, and parents to speak up when it comes to this type of legislation because unfortunately the anti-vaccine agenda goes beyond personal choice and ultimately is an attempt to convince ALL parents to stop vaccinating their children and to bring back diseases arguing for “natural immunity”.
-André Angelantoni says
Many people are learning how vaccinations cause autoimmune disease by reading this medical textbook:
Vaccines and Autoimmunuty, Shoenfeld, Wiley and Sons, 2015
Shoenfeld argues that by removing the shared peptides between vaccine antigens and human tissues (in the antigens), we can reduce the rate of autoimmune disease caused by population level vaccination programs.
Until that happens, isn’t it fair for a parent to choose less or no vaccination rather than risking a lifelong, Incurable autoimmune disease?