Immunizations
An important part of most baby visits is immunizations. They are designed to lessen the chance that your baby comes down with certain diseases. There was a time, not too long ago that many babies died of infections. Now we can prevent many of these killers with immunizations. It’s rare to see a child with polio, diphtheria, pertussis [whooping cough] these days, although there’s been more whooping cough recently since fewer parents are protecting their children. The number of people, both children and adults, who get rubella [German measles], has declined drastically since immunization became common.
If immunizations are so beneficial, why has there been such an outcry against them recently, particularly the one against pertussis? There has been much publicity about some of the adverse side-effects of this vaccine. These side effects may be very serious. They include severe neurological damage and mental retardation.
There are two important perspectives from which to consider the risks of immunizations: the risks of having the vaccine and the risks of not having the vaccine. From the first perspective we consider the risk/benefit ratio-that is, the relationship between the risk of a possible negative outcome and the benefit of the favorable outcome. For example, if one of every 100,000 children given a certain immunization died or suffered a serious side-effect, that is certainly one child too many. However, if we consider that 99,999 of the 100,000 children did not die but instead developed immunity to a deadly disease, the relative risk foe any individual child is very small indeed.
From the second perspective, we consider the risk of no treatment-that is, we ask if the risk of getting the vaccine is greater than the risk of getting the disease. For example, if one of every 100,000 children who get the vaccine suffers a serious side-effect, it might seem like an unnecessary risk to take. However, if one hundred of every 100,000 children who did not get the vaccine suffered permanent damage or even die because of the disease, then clearly the risk of no treatment is one hundred times greater than the risk of treatment.
The figures used are merely used for purpose of illustration, but the principles involved are important considerations when you are deciding whether to have your baby immunized against diseases. The benefits to be reaped from immunization are great, but there is always some degree of risk. Researchers are at work at further reducing the risks involved with some vaccines. Ask your physician her opinion of currently available vaccines.