| Dr. Knelson's Immunizations - Prevention of Disease and Death | |
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PREVENTING DISEASE AND DEATH IMMUNIZATIONS FOR YOUR CHILD “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is particularly true for immunizations. Not many people can remember when immunizations were not widely available. Neither can they remember when many immunizations taken for granted today were not available at all. I am old enough to remember both of those situations. I have also had the privilege of witnessing and being part of the amazing progress that has occurred in the field of disease prevention in general and immunizations in particular. That is why I am such a strong advocate of immunizations and why I am deeply disturbed by the growing trend to question their validity. How it was then: When I was in elementary school, immunizations were provided to me and my schoolmates at school, not in our doctor’s office. We all lined up, class by class, and marched down to the gymnasium where we saw long tables staffed by the local physicians and their nurses. Fear, panic, and the smell of alcohol were in the air. Most of us, more afraid of embarrassing ourselves and our parents than we were of the “shots”, maintained our cool. A few lost it and were hustled away by the teachers before their panic could become contagious. Our immunizations were not administered in the comfortable, secure, friendly environment of our pediatrician’s office because pediatricians, except in big medical centers, did not exist in those days. Children were taken to the doctor only if they were very sick or badly injured. Infant mortality then was more than four times what it is now. My most vivid memories are of the polio epidemics - poliomyelitis or infantile paralysis, as it was known then. Nearly every summer, the word would go out that all children were to be quarantined to their own house and yard. Movie theaters would not admit school age children. In the fall when school resumed, there was always at least one classmate who didn’t return because they had died of polio that summer. Others would return crippled. I remember my best friend had one arm that hung limp at his side, useless. When I was a senior and about to graduate from medical school, one of my classmates contracted polio. He lived, but was unable to pursue his dream and goal as a surgeon. Then came the Salk vaccine. It was handed out in super markets as little pink, vaccine-soaked sugar cubes. No informed consent. No worry about being sued. Nobody would dream of questioning the efficacy or safety of that modern miracle. Polio had been conquered. How it is now In the forty years since the polio vaccine became available, there has been a steady stream of new and improved vaccines. Smallpox exists now only as a terrorist threat. Polio has become virtually eradicated worldwide. In all of my years in medicine, I’ve seen only one case each of diphtheria and tetanus – as a resident in pediatrics many years ago. Hemophilus influenza meningitis, a constant threat only a few years ago, is now virtually non-existent. Whooping cough is rare. Even chickenpox is vanishing. Rubella syndrome in the newborn was a nightmare when I was in training. I haven’t seen a case in many years, thanks be to God. My first two children had measles. Their younger siblings didn’t, because they got the vaccine unavailable to the first two. I could go on, but you get the point. I am an advocate of every child being immunized because of personal experience, not something I read in a text book. The danger: There is a growing movement to rob your children of the protection they deserve from modern immunization technology. How could that be? As is true of so many anomalies in our culture today, this one has many sources of origin. One is a phenomenon I call the “media event.” These are situations that are captured by the media simply to increase profits for their own greedy reasons. Talk show hosts parade innocent, unfortunate children before audiences. Their disabilities are claimed to be due to some immunization they received. If that child were involved in an auto accident or struck by lightening on the way home from the doctor’s office, blaming that on the immunization they had just received would be ridiculed. But any other unfortunate event is somehow linked to the immunization. The logical fallacy unsubstantiated by any scientific evidence is ignored. Obviously the immunization was to blame. Then come the greedy malpractice attorneys. You know the rest of the story. Gullible, misguided people who are searching for conspiracy under every rock, then pick up that story and establish a web site. Who is a parent to believe – their doctor who has years of training and experience, or what they see on television or the internet? You decide. But your child’s health, and perhaps even their life depends on the wisdom of that decision. Following are some articles carefully prepared by experts to educate you for an intelligent decision, not one based on emotion. Yours in the Spirit of Caring, Dr. Knelson All of the health providers of Carteret Clinic for Adolescents and Children invite your questions. We welcome the opportunity to discuss any and all questions and concerns you might have concerning immunizations for your child. John H. Knelson, MD, MPH, FAAP |
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