It’s important to keep your immunizations up to date. The diseases that these vaccines protect us against are pretty nasty, and we’re better off avoiding them. Jody Murph, MD, pediatrician at University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, located in UI Hospitals and Clinics, talks about immunizations:
How do vaccines work?
It’s not really simple, but in a capsule, vaccines work by introducing a very small amount of material that’s similar to a specific virus or bacteria, or in some cases—such as measles or chickenpox—to a weakened form of the virus. This causes the body’s immune system to produce antibodies against those disease-causing organisms, so that in the future, if a child is exposed to wild diseases like tetanus and whooping cough, their body can quickly respond to prevent infection.
Are there any risks associated with vaccines?
First of all it’s important for us to recognize that everything we do in life has some risk, even getting out of bed in the morning, crossing the street, or taking an aspirin for a headache. Many of today’s young parents have never seen the diseases that we routinely vaccinate against, so they’re more worried about potential vaccine reactions.
But these diseases haven’t been eradicated from the globe, they’re just a plane ride away, as evidenced by the outbreaks of measles, mumps, and polio in the United States over the past several years. The only way to protect our children is to continue to maintain high levels of immunizations. Every unprotected child is not only at risk of disease themselves, but they increase the risk for all the other children in the community.
Today’s vaccines are very safe and effective. The most common side effects are soreness at the injection site, or low-grade fever, or fussiness in some infants. Rarely, more serious side effects, such as allergic reactions, may occur. But parents need to realize that the chance of a child having a bad outcome after an infection with a vaccine-preventable disease is much greater than the risk of an adverse event after vaccination.
What is the current immunization schedule?
The current vaccine schedule calls for completion of all of the infant immunizations and their booster doses by two years of age, and there’s several booster doses of vaccine given at the time a child is ready to enter kindergarten—at about four to five years of age. And then another set of vaccines that are given to pre-teens at 11 to 12 years, just prior to entrance into junior high.
Why do vaccinations like chickenpox need booster shots?
Over time immunity wanes and the body’s ability to fight off infection decreases unless the booster shot is given to literally boost the body’s immune response. Immunity often wanes, even after a wild disease, so that even the adolescent or the adult who had wild whooping cough becomes susceptible again after five to 10 years. Recently it was determined that immunity to chickenpox wanes after only one vaccination, so now two doses are recommended with the first dose at 12 months and the second at four to five years.
For adolescent girls, why is the HPV immunization important?
The new HPV vaccine protects against the strains of human papilloma virus that are responsible for causing 70 percent of all cervical cancers; so this is really an exciting opportunity to prevent the majority of the 11,000 cases of cervical cancer that occur every year in the United States. And this isn’t the first anti-cancer vaccine; the first was actually the hepatitis D vaccine that’s given routinely to all infants, beginning at birth, which prevents approximately 80 percent of all primary liver cancers.
As an adolescent or young adult, is it important to continue immunizations against childhood illness like whooping cough?
It definitely is. For some diseases, like whooping cough, it’s the adolescent or the adult who usually brings the disease into the family and infects the young infant, who’s at the greatest risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and even death. So by immunizing susceptible adolescents and adults, we can protect those most vulnerable children.
Are there any new developments in vaccinations or immunizations?
You know they’re always continuing new vaccinations or new recommendations for old vaccines. The most recent change to this schedule was the addition of the hepatitis A vaccine for all children at one year of age; then the booster dose of varicella vaccine, that’s given at four to five years of age; Tdap for all adolescents and adults to protect against whooping cough; Menactra to protect adolescents against meningitis; and Zostavax®, which is given to adults over 60 years of age to protect against shingles, which is also caused by the chickenpox virus.
If parents are looking for a good source of reference for immunizations in general, is there a publication or Web site you recommend?
The Web site www.immunize.org is maintained and reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control. It’s accurate, up to date, it’s easy to navigate, and it would be a good source of information for parents. And I’d also encourage parents to talk to their children’s doctor or primary health care provider if they have additional questions. |
