So, introductions first, hi I’m Heather-Lisa’s older sister, and Lisa has asked me to do a mini blog on some topics from readers since I’m in medical school. I have to preface this blog with I am not a medical expert on any of these topics, but I do look up your questions and answer them with evidence based medicine like your doctor should do. Also, if anything seems to be emergent please see your doctor as I do not have the whole story sometimes and cannot make a physical diagnosis. OK, now that we have that out of the way let’s discuss my favorite topic: immunizations.
Should your child get them? A RESOUNDING YES, is the answer!! They are very important and will protect your child from some horrible viruses that used to ravage the world. Let’s talk about each immunization because knowledge is power and Jenny McCarthy is a blazing idiot.
MMR-Measles, mumps, and rubella, what are these? These are separate viruses. Measles can get pretty nasty affecting the respiratory system but starting as a rash all over your child and moving to fever, cough, red eyes, and runny nose. It is spread via air and is highly contagious. The fever can get up to 104, and several complications can be seen with this virus ranging from diarrhea all the way to encephalitis-inflammation of the brain! The complications become more severe the older you get as well. Mumps is a virus that attacks the parotid gland in your cheeks and they swell up. It is very painful, and there can be swelling of the testes with males which can cause infertility in older patients. Rubella-or German measles is a virus that only lasts 3 days and is mild unless you contract it while pregnant in the first 20 weeks then your child will have serious congenital problems. Although there is a lot of controversy around this immunization the CDC has done numerous tests and this is absolutely safe to give to your child and will not cause autism!! Administering the vaccines in three separate doses does not reduce the chance of adverse effects, and it increases the opportunity for infection by the other two diseases.
Moving right along, I will do a condensed version of the other immunizations, here is a chart showing the schedule that your child should follow:
Ok, so hepatitis B vaccine is now given to your child right at birth, why’s that you ask? Hepatitis B can cause very severe symptoms in people like lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. More than half of people infected with this disease show no signs or symptoms, but they may become chronic carriers of the disease and may develop liver disease or liver cancer later in life. Symptoms of HBV infection vary and may include loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, and jaundice (yellow eyes and skin), joint pain, and skin rashes.
Worldwide, over 350 million people have chronic HBV infection, and approximately 1 million HBV patients die annually. An estimated 1.25 million people in the U.S. have chronic HBV infection. The younger the patient is when the disease is acquired, the more likely it is that he or she will develop chronic liver disease or liver cancer.
Approximately 90% of infants who are infected from their mothers at birth, and between 30 and 50% of those infected before age five, become chronic HBV carriers, while people who are newly infected as adults have only a 6 to 10% risk of chronic infection. For these reasons, hepatitis B immunizations are recommended for routine administration at birth.
DTAP-diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis are all horrible diseases as well, diptheria being another upper respiratory infection, pertussis is a whopping cough of the respiratory system and tetanus causing all the muscles of the body to contract and causes painful death. Overall, this is a wonderful vaccine that saves many lives.
Polio=enough said, this vaccine saves your child from losing the ability to walk because the virus affects the nerves and causes paralysis.
Hib, Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, is another virus that causes pneumonia, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, and bacterial meningitis. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you don’t skip this one!! (or any of them for that matter)
So before I bore you to death if you didn’t already stop reading this, the main point is vaccines were designed by scientists for a reason: to help save lives and to stop deadly diseases from spreading. Right now we are seeing too many parents deciding not to vaccinate and their kids end up coming to the pediatrician with these symptoms and there is not much we can do for them when they already contract the virus. Please, save your child from getting these and spreading these diseases by taking them to your pediatrician to get immunized!! They are NOT causing autism; the increase in autistic children is only because it is better diagnosed now.
Thanks for reading!
Heather
Make sure you follow on twitter and facebook!!! <3 Lisa
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