Dr. Manuel Baca Cots, Head of the Pediatrics Department of the Hospital Quirón de Málaga and Director of the Uncibay Pediatric Group answers one of the questions that are changing the medical perspective in recent times: why should I vaccinate my child? Are vaccines really necessary?
Why should I vaccinate my child?
The main reason to vaccinate our children from birth is simple: vaccinations save lives and prevent diseases.
It is especially important to vaccinate babies, because before the age of five they are very susceptible to diseases, as their immune system does not yet have the necessary defenses to fight all infections.
Protecting your child’s health is paramount to you and to all of us. Giving your child all the recommended vaccines will protect him or her from a multitude of serious childhood diseases. Vaccination means having an important defense against infection that is very safe and proven to be effective.
It is common to have a negative view of the dangers of serious illness, disability and even death in young children. That’s why we need to do whatever it takes to help our child grow up safe and healthy.
Vaccines are one of the major public health achievements because they have reduced or even eradicated many diseases. In fact, it can be said that thanks to vaccines, many people have never seen the effects of diseases such as polio or tetanus.
Thus, it is easy to think that these are diseases of the past, but they still affect us and spread easily. Today vaccines are very safe. In fact, before a vaccine is administered to minors, many tests are carried out on its validity and performance.
All of this information is then updated as new scientific data becomes available. In addition, vaccinating your child helps protect the entire community. When everyone who can be vaccinated gets vaccinated, it helps prevent the spread of disease and can slow or stop the progression of a disease outbreak. Your decision to protect your child with vaccines will also protect your family, friends and neighbors.
Why have more parents opted not to vaccinate?
Some parents, known as “antivaccine” parents, choose not to vaccinate their children, clinging to the idea that “vaccines are not mandatory”.
Since they are not, and since they are against them, they do not vaccinate. As a result, diseases return, children are exposed to unnecessary risks and all of this leads to what today could be defined as a history of “false fears”.
The anti-vaccine movement began in 1998, when Andrew Wakefield published an article in the prestigious journal The Lancet in which he explained that 12 children with autistic disorder suffered as a consequence of the Triple Viral Measles, Rubella and Mumps vaccine. That article started a health and social revolution.
Parents began to doubt whether or not to give vaccines to their children and some professionals began to advise against their administration.
Subsequent studies failed to repeat the results and a journalist named Brian Deer devoted himself to analyze the study and the twelve cases in depth. Between 2003 and 2008 he published his research. It proved that everything was false to the point that Dr. Wakefield’s medical degree was suspended in 2010, accused of lying, of generating a worldwide alarm and of subjecting 12 children with autism to unnecessary invasive tests.
The Lancet journal withdrew the article, although the problem already existed: the anti-vaccine movement had been generated. This movement has been growing over time.
At the beginning, for example, everything revolved around the MMR and then mercury was added. Numerous studies showed that mercury was not the cause of autism, but just in case it was removed from vaccines.
The anti-vaccine movements argue that vaccines are an invention of the pharmaceutical multinationals, which only seek economic profit at the expense of deceiving the population, to administer vaccines to children that they claim are ineffective, unsafe and toxic.
What happens if I do not vaccinate my child?
Ever since vaccines were invented, there has been fear about the possible side effects they may have on children. A fear that increased 15 years ago with the study published -and now withdrawn and confirmed as invented- linking autism with the triple vaccine (measles, rubella and mumps).
However, the sequels of this doctor (Andrew Wakefield) are still in force, inducing the population to non-existent fears. As a consequence, we frequently have measles epidemics all over the world. These figures, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), mean that 160,000 people a year die from measles alone.
In the same way, the inadequate administration of vaccines leads to the resurgence of partially forgotten diseases that cause epidemics all over the world.
Is there any benefit in not vaccinating my child?
There are people who have doubts about the convenience of subjecting their son or daughter to the childhood vaccination schedule. To avoid this, it would be very important for all of us to have enough information. Some news about vaccines do not take into account that they prevent more than one million deaths a year according to the WHO.
The fact that we are all aware of the importance of vaccinating means that a sufficient percentage of the population is vaccinated, and this gives rise to what doctors call herd immunity, protection from which the whole community benefits and not just the vaccinated.
This leads to an enormous reduction in the incidence of some diseases and the eradication of others. However, when a sufficient percentage of vaccination is not achieved, this group immunity is broken and diseases are easily transmitted. Therefore, not vaccinating means that your child will not only suffer a disease, but will also transmit it to other children, their acquaintances and relatives. Not following the children’s vaccination schedule will not mean an “extra” safety for your child, but quite the opposite.
Dr. Baca’s advice to those who do not want to have their children vaccinated
My advice to all those who still have doubts about vaccines is to leave aside the publications and comments based on the false work of Wakefield and the like; and to forget the fears without scientific basis, which have been recognized as false.
Solidarity should be applied to their own child in order to avoid the disease and its sequels. All this is in the hands of the parents and we should not forget that the disease can be provoked in all those who surround their child.
Parents should inform themselves extensively and only then will they come to the conclusion that one of the great advances in public health is the possibility of avoiding the disease through vaccines.
If you would like more information, you can consult a specialist in Pediatrics.