When I was a baby, mother’s routinely took their babies to the clinic to have their routine vaccinations.
When I was a baby Whooping Cough was almost non existent.
Today many mothers question the benefits of immunizations and decide not to have their babies immunized.
Today it is not uncommon to hear of a child having Whooping Cough.
Whooping Cough Can Kill
Whooping Cough can kill and it is not the only preventable disease that is reappearing in our society. I dread the day that I hear of a child having contracted Polio.
So why don’t parents routinely immunize their children anymore?
Details of a recent study looking at child immunization which was carried out by German Researchers were published in the German Medical Journal, Deutsches Arzteblatt International.
The researchers were concerned that whilst vaccinations are amongst the most effective and important form of medicine available to us today many parents and some doctors were opting to not have children vaccinated.
“In spite of all this, some parents and doctors have reservations against vaccinations. The fear is that vaccinations overburden, stress or weaken a child’s immune system and may therefore cause harm.
“As a result they think that vaccinated children are more prone to falling ill than non-vaccinated children. In addition, vaccinations are deemed to be responsible for the occurrence of increased incidence of other diseases, including chronic diseases,” they noted.
Vaccinations are safe
Vaccinations are a safe efficient form of preventative treatment. They do not increase the risk of children developing infectious or allergic illnesses such as eczema, gastrointestinal infections and bronchitis.
The study analysed data from 13 453 children aged between one and 17 and compared the occurrence of infections and allergies in vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
Results were not surprising:
- Vaccinated children are less likely to develop diseases they have been vaccinated against (i.e. measles, mumps, whooping cough).
- Unvaccinated children are more likely to develop measles, mumps and whooping cough
- Both vaccinated and unvaccinated children develop infections and allergic conditions at a similar level.
- The prevalence of atopic (allergic) conditions like eczema is more common in older children but this prevalence does not depend on the child’s vaccinated status.
The researchers concluded “The prevalence of allergic diseases and non-specific infections in children and adolescents was not found to depend on vaccination status,”