Communication - Childhood Vaccinations Flashcards
Possible scenarios
More info about childhood vaccinations
Parent disagrees with vaccinations
MMR causes autism
Benefits of vaccinations
Prevents serious diseases with severe consequences
Maintain eradication of diseases that can kill and disable children
Extremely safe, have been tested rigorously and continually monitored
Risks of vaccinations
Side effects - rarely serious and only last a couple of days.
- swelling, redness, lump
- fever
- allergic reaction, anaphylaxis (wheeze, SOB, swollen neck, difficulty breathing
Why are they given so early
The diseases that we vaccinate against are most likely to occur when a child is very young and the risk of complications are the greatest.
Isn’t natural immunity better than vaccination?
Natural infection may provide better immunity than vaccination
But the infection itself can have very serious life-changing complications
How do vaccines work?
Vaccines work by preparing the body to fight illness
The vaccine itself is a part of the virus or bacteria. Our immune system encounters the vaccine and makes antibodies (weapons) against it. So if your body encounters the actual virus or bacteria in the future, it has the equipment needed to fight it before it starts causing symptoms.
Can you get the disease from the vaccine
It is impossible to get the disease from a vaccine made with a fragment of the bacteria/virus
There are some vaccines that are made from weakened viruses (MMR), so there is a small possibility that your child may develop a mild form of the disease. But it is almost always much less severe than if a child became infected with the disease itself
This is more likely if a child has a weakened immune system
What about herd immunity
It is true that if others around us are immunised, the likelihood that 1 unvaccinated child will get the disease is very low.
But there is no guarantee that the people around us will be vaccinated so you cannot tell if there even is herd immunity around you. The best way to protect your child is through vaccination.
Can getting so many vaccines at once harm my baby
Babies have really robust immune systems and the contents of the vaccine is just a small percentage of what your baby’s immune system deals with on a daily basis
Having side effects to the vaccine is common but this is a very small risk compared to the health impacts the disease itself can cause. This is not because of the no of vaccines given at once
Doesn’t MMR cause autism
There was an article that suggested a possible link between autism and the MMR vaccine.
But the paper itself contained fraudulent information and retracted
The doctor who wrote the article lost his medical license.
And other studies have been unable to reproduce his results.
I understand that this is something that would worry you
Contraindications to vaccination
If your child has a fever => postpone
IC - avoid MMR BCG varicella, nasal flu (LAIV)
Known anaphylactic reaction to vaccine or ingredients
MMR, flu vaccine contains egg
- flu vaccine may cause reaction => egg free alternative
- MMR egg from chick embryo => is safe
