Children are required to take several vaccines within their first year, something that leaves many parents worried due to the belief that this onslaught may overload the immature immune systems of their children. As a result, many parents either delay the chore of taking their kids for vaccination or evade it all together.
Myths About Vaccines Debunked
To make matter worse, persistent rumors that these shots could pose long-term health risks to children still linger on the internet. Many people insist that since less developed communities who don't get shots have lower cases of autism, there must be a link. However, according to a study that was published in Pediatrics, Children who were taken for vaccination in good time did not perform worse than their counterparts who were vaccinated later in such areas as speech, achievement, language, attention, fine motor skills, and overall intellectual ability for as many as ten years later.
The report came out on the very day that a British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, was banned from medical practice in Britain because of the fear he instilled in people that early childhood vaccination causes autism. In his study that was published in The Lancet in 1998, he linked vaccines for rubella, mumps, and measles to autism. His study involved 12 children only. The journal later retracted Wakefield’s study. The regulatory body in the country also said that the doctor was insincere, as he did not disclose his association with lawyers who wanted to sue manufacturers of vaccines. The doctor relocated to the United States.
Although the recent study does not focus on cause and effect, it is among the first ones looking at possible advantages of delaying the vaccination of children. According to the authors of the study, who are from the University Of Louisville School Of Medicine, children who are vaccinated on time show the same neurodevelopmental outcomes as those who are vaccinated later.
The study involved 491 children who were born between 1993 and 1997 and were vaccinated on time, 235 children who were vaccinated relatively later, and 311 children who did not receive all the required vaccinations.
Several studies have been conducted since Wakefield’s report in 1998, but none of them have determined any link between vaccines and autism. However, 25% of parents believe that the vaccines cause the condition. 11% do not believe that vaccines for such uncommon diseases as measles are necessary. Perhaps that is why there have been increasing cases of measles in America and England where the controversy is more prevalent.
Greg Johansson - Gregory Johansson has been a Web marketing consultant for nearly a decade and has published copy on dozens of websites ranging from online ...
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