(This article by Dr. Michael Colli, Chief Medical Officer of Keystone Health and Medical Director of Keystone Pediatrics, first appeared in the Public Opinion Newspaper. Click here to read it on www.publicopiniononline.com)
In some circles, discussing vaccinations can be a controversial topic and the decision to delay or not to vaccinate children is on the 
rise. Some parents might think the practice is outdated, but health care providers want parents to understand why vaccines are still important and what to consider before you choose not to vaccinate your child.
What is a vaccine?
Vaccines help to improve immunity to harmful organisms such as a virus or type of bacteria. Typically, vaccines include the organism in question but it has been transformed into a killed or inactivated form so that you can’t actually contract the disease. The body’s immune system is then tricked into creating antibodies, or fighter cells, to protect you from contracting the real thing.
Vaccines protect us from many deadly illnesses. Years ago, before vaccines were available, an iron lung kept people alive from polio, babies were permanently disabled from rubella, and epiglottis, a severe and often fatal infection, could strike children in the middle of the night, cutting off their air supply. Today vaccinations can prevent more than 21 diseases including rotavirus (the leading infectious cause of childhood death), chicken pox, bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, and many more.
Vaccinations for children
The American vaccine schedule starts at birth with a hepatitis B vaccine. There are additional immunizations given at 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, and 18 months. This series includes initial shots against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal disease, haemophilus influenza, rotavirus, measles, mumps, rubella, and hepatitis A and B. Additional vaccines are given between 4 and 6 years old as a booster before starting school. Other vaccinations are also recommended, including TDaP, HPV, and meningococcal starting at age 10. Typical side effects of vaccines include pain and soreness at the site, low grade fever, and sometimes a rash. Children must be up to date on their vaccines in order to enroll into and stay in school, unless a religious or personal objection waiver is signed by the parent.
Why the objection?
An article was published in the journal Nature linking the MMR vaccine to the development of autism which caused a tremendous amount of anxiety and fear among parents of young children that worried they may be making their child more likely to develop autism if they chose to give them this vaccine. The article and theory were later disproved by multiple studies. In fact, Dr. Wakefield lost his British medical license as a result of this study because it was shown that he was receiving financial kick-backs from large British legal firms that were involved in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.
Unfortunately, there is still a great deal of fear among some parents that MMR or some other combination of vaccines might be responsible for an increase in the rate of autism. Some people still blame thimerosol, a vaccine additive that was removed from vaccines close to 10 years ago, for causing autism. Although we don’t know exactly what causes autism, we know definitively what does not—vaccines.
Choosing not to vaccinate your child or to delay vaccinations puts your child at risk for developing diseases that could easily be prevented. It is not recommended. Imagine an unvaccinated child dying or requiring extensive medical care from a preventable disease such as whooping cough. If you choose not to vaccinate your child, be sure to know and understand the risks you are putting on your child.
Dr. Michael Colli is chief medical officer of Keystone Health, a board certified pediatrician, and medical director at Keystone Pediatrics located in the Cochran Professional Center at 830 Fifth Avenue in Chambersburg. Visit www.keystonepediatrics.org for more information.
