"First with Kids" | Vermont Children's Hospital


	"First with Kids"
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Lewis First, MD offers parents and children tips for staying healthy and safe in his weekly First with Kids segments. Always delivered with enthusiasm and humor, First with Kids can be found on WOKO radio 98.9 FM, WCAX-TV Channel 3 and in the Chittenden County Newspaper Group papers.

Dr. First is Chief of Pediatrics at the Vermont Children's Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont College of Medicine.

This week Dr. First offers tips on:

Vaccinations

December 01, 2008

Recently parents have been needling me about whether or not their child really needs all those vaccinations we are now giving. I’d like to make some points about this important topic.

Vaccines help prevent infectious diseases and save lives. They are so important for the control of many infectious diseases that were once common killers in this country including polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, and types of bacterial pneumonia and meningitis. If we stopped vaccinating, these diseases would come back and the consequences would be devastating. In fact this year Vermont ranked fifth worst in our national immunization rate, and to no surprise we are seeing more and more children with life-threatening illnesses like whooping cough and meningitis in this state that could have been prevented if they had just been vaccinated.

Even though babies are protected at birth with their mother’s immunity, this protection only lasts for a few months. While babies may get some additional protection from breast-feeding, this will not protect a baby from the life-threatening infections that only vaccines can prevent.

Immunization also protects the health of our community by preventing those not immunized from being unnecessarily exposed to many people who carry a bad infection.

If the reason you are worried is because you think vaccinations will be painful to your child, your pediatrician has a variety of techniques and strategies to reduce the discomfort as much as possible.

If you believe it is better to be naturally infected rather than vaccinated, please reconsider that belief.. It is much better to gain immunity from a vaccine than from the life-threatening diseases they prevent..

If you are worried about some of the newer vaccines, be aware that even these are tested for years and years before they become the standard of care, and that the vaccines in use have minimal side effects, all of which are carefully studied by the Centers for Disease Control. For example, concerns that the measles vaccine or the chemical thimerosal used in vaccines have contributed to autism, has just not proven to be true based on some very valid scientific studies reported by the Institute of Medicine, yet the illnesses your child can get from not being immunized are very real, and are occurring in un-immunized patients who often must be admitted to our children’s hospital for treatment..

So, please talk with your child’s doctor about the benefits versus the risk of getting your child vaccinated.

Hopefully tips like this (and I don’t mean needle tips) will allow me to take my best shot at this topic and inject just the right attitude into all parents so they recognize how important it is to make sure their children are fully immunized.

Lewis First, MD is chief of pediatrics at the Vermont Children's Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont College of Medicine. You can also catch "First with Kids" weekly on WOKO, 98.9 FM and now on WCAX-TV, Channel 3. Visit www.vermontchildrens.org to access all of this year's First with Kids segments.