Rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
Back in the early 1900s, about one in five children died before entering kindergarten. The most common reason: infectious disease. Today, just one in 27 dies so young, most often because of an accident. Those saved lives are largely thanks to vaccines, which introduce weakened or killed viruses or bacteria into the body to trigger the body’s natural defenses and immune responses.
Over the years, vaccines have prevented millions of hospitalizations and childhood deaths. As the number of cases of serious, vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles, starts creeping back up, it’s more important than ever for parents to have evidence-based, up-to-date information about childhood vaccinations and the vaccine schedule.
Sticking to a vaccine schedule that’s been approved by top pediatric experts as both effective and safe is key to protecting your child. Pediatric infectious disease specialist Mundeep Kaur Kainth, DO, MPH, told Northwell Health what she wants parents to know.
1. Vaccines work
“Vaccines are extremely effective at preventing diseases. It’s why we haven’t seen some diseases — smallpox and German measles, for example — for generations,” says Dr. Kainth. “The fact that we’re seeing some of these preventable diseases coming back has nothing to do with how well vaccines work. It’s because fewer people are getting their children vaccinated.” In a way, vaccines are victims of their own success, says Dr. Kainth. “One of the things parents say to me is, ‘I’ve never seen polio or measles before.’ We have a whole generation of parents who have not seen these illnesses as their parents did, which is wonderful — but also means they don’t feel the same urgency to vaccinate.”
2. Vaccines are safe
Parents sometimes cite possible side effects as a reason to opt against vaccination, Dr. Kainth says. But the most common side effects, such as soreness or swelling at the injection site, fever or fatigue, are temporary inconveniences that recede on their own or with small doses of Tylenol. “I’m far more concerned with the disease I’m preventing, which generally can have very serious outcomes, such as hospitalization or death,” she says.
The truth about vaccines and autism
As for concerns about autism: A number of very large, well-designed studies have searched for signs of a link with vaccines and have failed to uncover anything worrisome. Allergic reactions to vaccinations are also exceedingly rare. The worst reaction she sees? Fainting from anxiety. “Honestly, way more patients are anxious about getting shots than are allergic to vaccines,” she says.
3. Following a vaccine schedule is critical
Just as vaccines themselves are carefully researched and tested, so is the timing of vaccine delivery, says Dr