Dear Readers,

M.G., a 29-year-old father with two young children, is concerned about having them immunised for religious reasons and also because of worries re the safety of vaccines given. M.G. has been tardy with following the immunisation schedule.

There is no drug or vaccine which does not have some possible side effect. Most side effects from vaccines are minor resulting in a sore arm or leg where the shot was given or sometimes a mild fever. Some children are a bit 'fussy' after being given the pentavalent vaccine. Serious side effects are rare occurrences. The diseases that the immunisations protect our children against have become, for the most part, distant from our lives. The risk of contracting the diseases prevented by immunisation is significantly less than it was 30 years ago.

However, it is the immunisation of the children against the dread childhood diseases which have rendered them rare in occurrence. The infections which our children are being immunised against can be killers and in past years have caused major outbreaks of serious debilitating childhood illness. If many parents were to discontinue childhood immunisation it is very likely that outbreaks of dyptheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, rubella, mumps, viral meningitis hepatitis B and several other infections would recur to decimate the population of our children.

Vaccines promote the body's protection defence system by exposing the body to a 'weakened' form of the virus or bacteria which causes a diseases. The body responds by producing special cells which fight the disease cells they have been exposed to and which remain active in the individual and 'remember' the disease for many years, giving protection against them.

Vaccines are made by taking the disease-causing bacteria and viruses and processing them so that they are weakened or killed. Vaccines containing 'killed' organisms cannot give a person a disease and only very rarely will a live but weakened organism cause disease.

All vaccines in use have been tested extensively all over the world and are approved for potency, safety and purity. M.G. feels that if a child should some how get one of the childhood diseases then the child would then acquire a natural protection from the germ. This is true, but consider the suffering the poor child would have to undergo, the discomfort and at times the threat to the child's very life! Viral meningitis, one of the diseases children are now immunised against, can cause serious brain damage. The parents and family of a brain-damaged child would have to contend with this for the life the child through its adulthood. Providing financial and care giving support always!

Again, it needs to be re emphasised that although many childhood diseases seem rare it is because vaccinated children are protected and not because the bacteria and virus are not around us. Many of these childhood diseases continue to demote childhood populations in other parts of the world and in our global community we interact daily with people who travel all over the world.

It doesn't make sense either just to give the child one shot of the vaccine when three or four doses are recommended. In order for the vaccine to work adequately all vaccines must be given according to their recommended scheduled (or as near as possible).

There are a few children who cannot take vaccines because of pre-existing medical conditions. Egg allergies and impairment of the body's immune system are two conditions in which vaccines may be contradicted. A child with HIV positive status, AIDS, cancer or who is taking immune suppressant drugs or anti-cancer drugs will be exempt from immunisation.

It is safer and healthier for families to ensure the full immunisation of their junior members as they grow from infancy.

Write to:

Lifeline

P.O. Box 1731

Kingston 8