Analyzing the great child-vaccination debate

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Analyzing the great child-vaccination debate

Article from:

The Record (Bergen County, NJ)

Article date:

November 5, 2008

Author:

COLLEEN DISKIN

The Record (Bergen County, NJ)

11-05-2008

Analyzing the great child-vaccination debate

COLLEEN DISKIN

Date: 11-05-2008, Wednesday

Section: BETTER LIVING

Edtion: All Editions

Column: THE MOTHER LOAD

My 4-year-old will be making two trips to the doctor this month, first

for booster shots for chickenpox and measles, mumps and rubella, and

then for vaccinations against influenza and pneumonia.

The last two shots are brand-new requirements in New Jersey, and

they've been greeted with protests in the state capital. But I

probably would have rolled up my son's sleeve for them even if I

didn't have to.

I do understand, however, why some parents hesitate. When my doctor

suggested the chickenpox vaccine for my oldest, I was not sure what to

do. I thought he might be better off getting his immunity the old-

fashioned way by getting the illness as a kid like I had. I paused

again when my pediatrician recommended an annual flu shot for my

youngest when he was still a toddler; this wasn't something my older

two needed when they were that age.

In each case, I did some research of my own and learned that the

majority view of the medical establishment was that chickenpox and

influenza are illnesses worth avoiding because they can sometimes

bring serious and even fatal complications. I ended up deciding to put

my faith in those conclusions and in a pediatrician who had long since

earned my trust.

A decade ago, parents didn't routinely question doctors about the

benefits of vaccines. But then came suspicions that a mercury-

containing preservative in some vaccines might have triggered autism

in some children. Leading medical authorities have resoundingly

disputed the claims, but the qualms of some parents have never subsided.

That preservative thimerosol has been removed from many childhood

vaccines. But now some parents are questioning other ingredients, like

aluminum and formaldehyde, and are pointing to past recalls of some

vaccines as reasons for their worries.

" Ten years ago, I rarely got questions from parents about vaccines, "

said Dr. Lawrence Rosen, a pediatrician who spoke at a childhood

vaccination forum last month at Hackensack University Medical Center.

" Now I hear them from the majority of parents I see. "

Most parents' questions are about the additives contained in vaccines,

and about the safety of grouping vaccines together so that infants

sometimes get up to seven at a time, said Rosen, who opened a practice

in Oradell this year. He calls for doctors to be more flexible about

the timing of vaccinations.

Rosen thinks state health officials may have weakened some parents'

trust in the vaccination program by deciding to mandate the flu shot

for preschoolers, an immunization he sees as far less crucial. He

hopes for passage of a proposed state law that would allow parents to

file for a personal belief exemption to certain vaccinations, rather

than being able to file for only a religious objection to all

immunizations.

But Dr. Boscamp, another voice at last month's forum, said the

medical community does not have the capability to predict which

children might have a negative reaction to a particular vaccine. So

there is no way for parents to " pick and choose " which ones are best

for their kids and at what time they should be given, said Boscamp,

physician in chief at the children's hospital at Hackensack and

chairman of the New Jersey infectious diseases committee.

Instead, all parents can do is rely on a vaccination regime that

research and practice has shown to be safe and effective for the vast

majority of children, Boscamp argued.

At the forum, Boscamp showed slide after slide of the devastating toll

that diseases such as polio and whooping cough took on children in the

beginning of the 20th century before the diseases were eradicated by

vaccines. He worries that that progress could evaporate if parents

start refusing these shots.

Doctors who specialize in infectious diseases, like Boscamp, regret

that the autism worries and previous vaccine recalls have gotten more

parents thinking that the cures are worse than the diseases. Medical

research and statistics clearly tell the opposite story, Boscamp said.

But Boscamp and Rosen do agree on one thing: That the powers that be

in medicine need to realize that the old days of parents signing an

immunization form without asking any questions are over. " There's no

question that we need to do more to address concerns in the

community, " Boscamp said.

That starts by taking all parents' questions seriously, Rosen said.

My pediatrician listened to all my vaccine questions and gave me

thoughtful and reasonable answers. So instead of bringing a picket

sign to Trenton last month, I was calling the pediatrician's office to

schedule my 4-year-old for his next round of immunizations.

***

E-mail: motherload@...

Keywords: CHILD, HEALTH, NEW JERSEY, DISEASE

> Meryl Dorey,

> President

> Australian Vaccination Network

> Enabling Australians to make informed health choices

> Editor

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> PO Box 177

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> Phone: (61 +2) 02 6687 1699

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>