We now know that vaccines are unequivocally good, but as one myth about vaccines is debunked, another seems to take its place.
One of the most common concerns on the part of parents right now – when it comes to vaccinating their children – is the suggestion that they give the child a multiple number of shots, either at the same time or in a short period of time , it can overwhelm the immune system. For a parent who knows little about the subject, it may seem like a compelling concern.
The truth is that there is a lot of research that shows that this is not true, and a recent study published in theJournal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, (doi: 10.1001 / jama.2018.0708) provides even more evidence confirming that this extreme.The conclusion of the work is as sharp as it is simple: Children who receive multiple vaccines at an early age are not more likely to get sick compared to children who are not vaccinated.
“Some parents are concerned that multiple vaccines in early childhood could damage their children’s immune systems, making them more susceptible to future infections,” explains lead author Jason Glanz in a statement.“This new study suggests that the theory of overloading a baby’s immune system is highly unlikely.”
In their research, the experts looked at about 1,000 children between the ages of 2 and 4 over a 12-year period. Rather than see whether the children in the cohort who had been vaccinated were more or less likely to develop the diseases for which they were vaccinated, they specifically looked at the infections that the children were not vaccinated against.
They found no significant difference in the rate of infections between children who received cumulative vaccines and those who did not.
What the study found makes overwhelming sense. When a baby is born, they are exposed to a host of new, and potentially harmful, microbes from the moment they leave the mother’s womb. Compared to this, the small amount of antigens found within vaccines are miniscule, and would barely register in the developing immune system.
In fact, due to this veritable onslaught of bacteria, antigens and other microorganisms that newborns face in the first years of life, the immune system is primed to function exactly in this environment, discovering who is friends and who is enemy.
This is just one of the arguments that we will explore in this gallery.
Bottom line: Get your child vaccinated if you don’t have a medical reason why you shouldn’t. He protects not only his own child, but everyone else as well.
