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Is vaccination dangerous? Could my child have permanent consequences after vaccination? Does vaccination really cause autism? Whether you are already a parent or the role awaits you, sooner or later you will deal with the subject of vaccination. But before that, rid yourself of the influence of myths and falsehoods that so negatively affect the health of our whole society.
Myth – Vaccines are dangerous
Fact – Because vaccines are given as prevention against serious diseases to healthy people, they must meet the highest safety standards. Yes, vaccination is also associated with side effects such as fever or pain and swelling at the injection site. Even though these are often very unpleasant, avoiding vaccination because of them means accepting another and much more serious risk.
Vaccination should be entirely voluntary
Fact – The importance of mandatory vaccinations is for the prevention of the diseases they are aimed at. For this reason vaccinations are mandatory. If they were not mandatory, there would likely be a decline in coverage with the risk of increased incidence. For example, in France, where vaccination against measles is not mandatory and measles coverage does not reach the recommended 95% (WHO recommendation), measles epidemics repeatedly occur among unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated children.
Vaccination coverage in society is sufficient
Fact – Although the incidence of some diseases that vaccines prevent or eliminate has been dramatically reduced, vaccination is still necessary to prevent common infectious diseases. Some diseases are so widespread that the choice not to vaccinate increases the risk of infection. For example, not being vaccinated against whooping cough means the risk of a severe and in some cases fatal infection. There is also a problem with pneumococcal diseases, against which the vast majority of seniors are not vaccinated; they form the second largest at-risk group. Although meningitis caused by pneumococci or severe pneumonia can be fatal for seniors, widespread vaccination in this risk group has not yet been introduced here.
Vaccination is also a necessary tool to prevent infectious diseases that do not occur here or occur only in small numbers. Due to low population coverage we could again face, for example, measles, mumps or polio.
Children receive too many injections
Fact – Children may receive more than 10 injections by the age of 2, which surprises some parents. Because the womb is free of bacteria and viruses, the newborn’s immune system immediately encounters millions of antigens at birth, against which the number of antigens contained in today’s modern vaccines is negligible.
If all the vaccines from the current vaccination schedule were administered on one day, only one tenth of the capacity of the child’s immune system would be “occupied”.
Vaccination causes autism
Fact – Carefully conducted studies have clearly refuted the view that vaccines actually cause autism. Because signs of autism can appear in the second year of life, roughly at the same time when some vaccines are given to children, and because the cause of autism is unknown, some parents wonder whether vaccination is to blame.
The origin of the claim of a link between vaccination and autism comes from a study by Andrew Wakefield published in 1998 in the British journal Lancet. The study was the subject of a three-year investigation by the British General Medical Council. After three years of thorough independent research the study was declared a fraud, its author was found guilty not only of plagiarism but also of abusing mentally disabled children. He was subsequently struck off the medical register and had his medical license revoked.
The vaccination schedule is not important
Fact – The vaccination schedule reflects the specific occurrence of infectious diseases in our country and was created based on scientific evidence and expert recommendations. Vaccination according to the valid vaccination schedule can prevent a higher number of illnesses, complications and deaths.
Spreading out, delaying or refusing vaccination can be risky because children may be susceptible to disease for a longer period. When a child should be vaccinated is determined based on an assessment of when they are at greatest risk of infection by the given disease and when the vaccine will create the best immune response. Finally, changing the vaccination schedule requires additional doctor visits and therefore more stressful situations for the child.
