Immunizations should be part of routine health care. As clear and simple as that statement is, some people challenge the idea, and do so falsely.
Today, we have long-lasting protection available against measles, mumps, German measles, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, chickenpox, influenza, hepatitis B and more. How could someone choose to not protect themselves or, more importantly, their child against scourges like these? Some people think they have good reasons — they are wrong.
Vaccines have been the single most successful tool for preventing illness and disease and saving lives for the past century. Many millions of people have benefitted from immunizations, yet some still argue against their use. But it is hard to argue with success when we compare pre-vaccine disease with recent statistics (2007 in the U.S.). Consider that prior to a vaccine becoming available, some 175,000 (U.S. data) cases of diphtheria were identified; and in 2007, there were zero cases, a 100 per cent drop. Cases of measles dropped by 99.9 per cent; mumps by 99.5 per cent; and rubella by 99.9 per cent.
Some of the reasons people use to explain their decisions against vaccinations are fed by misinformation spread by others. There are multiple misconceptions, all available on the Internet and elsewhere. “They must be true. We found them on a website that is exposing the truth.”
Among the many falsehoods is one that sounds almost reasonable: “Because of better hygiene and sanitation, diseases had already begun to disappear before vaccines were introduced.”
There is a grain of truth there. Better living conditions and hygiene are helpful in the fight against disease, but if we examine the incidence of a disease before and after the introduction of a vaccine, we see a huge drop in the incidence rate.
One rant against vaccination that we can understand, yet disagree with, is that there are side effects to vaccines, some harmful. Vaccines are indeed very safe but there can be adverse effects. The most serious of these can be significant, yet the case for vaccination is still insurmountable.
Adverse effects from vaccination occur in the order of one per thousands up to one per millions. It is difficult to statistically assess the risk because so few deaths can be attributed to vaccines. However, even with these miniscule risks, we can understand how parents might be concerned. What does not make sense comes when we compare the risks without vaccination.
The risk of adverse events and death are much greater to the unvaccinated. Consider the example of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine given to young children. The vaccine carries a 1 in 1,000,000 risk for severe allergic reaction or encephalitis. How could you take that risk with your child? Easy. The risk for encephalitis in a child with measles is 1 in 2,000. Measles also carries a risk for pneumonia of 1 in 20, and for death, 1 in 3,000. Mumps carries a risk of 1 in 300 for encephalitis. How risky is that vaccine now?
There are dozens of other so-called facts floating about, all claiming to be the truth. Unfortunately some people give credence to these falsehoods. What we need to keep in mind is that a child is far more likely to be seriously injured by one of these diseases than by any vaccine. While any serious injury or death from vaccines is unacceptable, it is also clear that the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh the slight risk and that many more injuries and deaths would occur without vaccinations.
