Please vaccinate your kids!
I find it hard not to feel irked when a parent comes in fully armed with a thousand reasons why her child should not be vaccinated. She is usually misinformed and verging on paranoia, and yet, when she comes in with something as precious as a child, you cannot truly fault her for caring - even if they're reaching the wrong conclusions. I will never be an infectious diseases paediatrician, but that's a good thing, because there are other doctors out there who do not get irked and who have the patience to deal with the misinformation and fears that have been carefully cultivated and encouraged by some very ill-informed parties in the big bad unscientific world.
Yes, there are side effects to vaccinations. There are side effects to any medical therapy. These side effects may potentially be serious but they are rare and more importantly, you have a lower chance of being adversely affected by them, than you are by the bugs these vaccines protect you from. I get it, as a parent you don't want to do something that might harm your child, but if you don't vaccinate them, that's exactly what you're doing. You're harming your kid. You're leaving them exposed to a world of bugs that were once fatal, but now are less so because of these vaccines.
I was watching a movie this morning about how vaccines are evil. It drove me nuts but I watched it anyway because you gotta know why some parents are so fearful if you're going to address these concerns adequately. The movie says that vaccination programs are political and unscientific, and then it goes on to say things like "the number of vaccines have tripled in the past xx number of years" and "the number of children with disabilities have risen dramatically", which of course leads the uncritical viewer to think that there is some sort of causal link between the two. Even the trailer made me cringe. Here are a few things to think about.
You would think I was silly if I said:
Anyway, I have just started my paediatrics rotation and you guessed it - was assigned to the infectious diseases team for a month. I think I asked for it... largely because an ID term covers some of the more common conditions affecting the paediatric population and like it or not, you gotta know, what you gotta know. Plus I figured, one day when I'm in Africa or Syria or something, I should probably know about these things. But yea, we spent about an hour speaking to a mom yesterday about vaccinations. It was slightly frustrating, but in a way, also somewhat rewarding (just a little) to be able to gently prod her in the right direction. To correct the wrong information she has been fed, and to state categorically that the only position we can take as doctors practising Evidence Based Medicine, was in support of vaccines.
We managed to convince her to give her child three vaccines (one jab) and hopefully in time, she will come round to the rest!
Yes, there are side effects to vaccinations. There are side effects to any medical therapy. These side effects may potentially be serious but they are rare and more importantly, you have a lower chance of being adversely affected by them, than you are by the bugs these vaccines protect you from. I get it, as a parent you don't want to do something that might harm your child, but if you don't vaccinate them, that's exactly what you're doing. You're harming your kid. You're leaving them exposed to a world of bugs that were once fatal, but now are less so because of these vaccines.
I was watching a movie this morning about how vaccines are evil. It drove me nuts but I watched it anyway because you gotta know why some parents are so fearful if you're going to address these concerns adequately. The movie says that vaccination programs are political and unscientific, and then it goes on to say things like "the number of vaccines have tripled in the past xx number of years" and "the number of children with disabilities have risen dramatically", which of course leads the uncritical viewer to think that there is some sort of causal link between the two. Even the trailer made me cringe. Here are a few things to think about.
- The number of vaccines have risen because we have found more ways to prevent more diseases. This is a good thing, not a bad one. The number of vaccines have risen because public health campaigners have been successful at highlighting the importance of preventative medicine. Our average life expectancy has increased substantially because we are no longer being killed off by infectious diseases. Check it.
- The number of children with disabilities has risen dramatically due to advances in medicine which are keeping them alive. Medicine isn't making your child sick... it's keeping them alive, even in their debilitated state. They would otherwise have died, and thus not contributed to the number of disabled kids out there.
You would think I was silly if I said:
- The number of iPods in the world has risen over the past 10 years.
- The population of China has stagnated over the past 10 years.
- Oh My Gosh. This must mean, the population of China is stagnating because the number of iPods has increased over the past 10 years.
Anyway, I have just started my paediatrics rotation and you guessed it - was assigned to the infectious diseases team for a month. I think I asked for it... largely because an ID term covers some of the more common conditions affecting the paediatric population and like it or not, you gotta know, what you gotta know. Plus I figured, one day when I'm in Africa or Syria or something, I should probably know about these things. But yea, we spent about an hour speaking to a mom yesterday about vaccinations. It was slightly frustrating, but in a way, also somewhat rewarding (just a little) to be able to gently prod her in the right direction. To correct the wrong information she has been fed, and to state categorically that the only position we can take as doctors practising Evidence Based Medicine, was in support of vaccines.
We managed to convince her to give her child three vaccines (one jab) and hopefully in time, she will come round to the rest!
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