| Check-Up: What’s True — and False — On Vaccines |
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Here, Dr. Hertz busts some common vaccine myths: True or False? Vaccines cause autism. True or False? False. Study after study has failed to link autism and vaccines, says the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). It has been scientifically proven that vaccines work, and are safe and necessary to prevent disease. If you decide not to vaccinate your child, you put your child at risk for serious disease and/or death. The myth that vaccines cause autism re-emerged after the publication of a 1998 medical journal article that suggested an association with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Later investigation discovered flaws in this study, resulting in its removal from the journal. Autism is often found when a child is 18 to 30 months old. Since children get the MMR vaccine just before that age, the myth about this link persists. Vaccines have not wiped out common childhood illnesses. True or False? True. Chickenpox, measles, whooping cough and other deadly diseases are not gone. They’re just a plane ride away, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Travelers “import” them from overseas. When that happens, communities with a large population of unvaccinated children face a higher risk for outbreaks. However, vaccines have been one of the greatest successes of modern health care. Vaccines have eliminated smallpox and virtually extinguished many other diseases. Countless lives have been saved by vaccines. Children need only one chickenpox vaccine. True or False? False. Almost all children are vaccinated against the varicella zoster virus that causes chickenpox when they are babies, and the vaccine is highly successful. However, recent studies have shown that not all teenagers are protected against varicella, and infection in this age group can lead to serious pneumonia and other complications, such as brain swelling. All adolescents should be given a second chickenpox vaccine. You can protect a child by getting vaccinated yourself. True or False? True. Getting a flu shot while pregnant, for instance, helps protect your baby from the flu. One study found that babies born to moms who got a flu shot had a 63 percent lower risk of getting the virus than infants born to moms who didn’t get a flu shot. Children less than 6 months old can’t get flu shots, so that extra protection is vital. You can also help protect your baby from whooping cough by making sure everyone around the infant has had a booster shot against this illness. Vaccines are only for babies and young children. True or False? False. Some vaccines wear off over time. In addition, preteens are facing new disease threats, such as meningitis. Vaccines can thwart many cases of this, and other, illnesses. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians and CDC all recommend the routine administration of vaccines — not only to babies and children, but to preteens, teenagers and adults, as well. If not previously given, we will recommend that your adolescent receive appropriate vaccinations to prevent diseases, such as meningitis, whooping cough, tetanus, genital warts and cervical cancer. |
According to Dr. Andrew Hertz, a community pediatrician at UH Rainbow Suburban Pediatrics in Shaker Heights, Ohio, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around about vaccines.