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As fall brings the start of respiratory virus season and routine checkups, parents are inundated with conflicting advice and misinformation about childhood immunizations. Even the CDC, once the gold standard in medical trustworthiness, is making highly controversial recommendations.
Dr. Rosemarie Kennaley is a family physician at Western Washington Medical Group’s new Bothell clinic. In her more than 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Kennaley has seen attitudes about vaccination shift from trusted preventative care to widespread skepticism. Here she shares science-backed insights and the facts parents need to confidently make immunization decisions for their children.
Misunderstanding: Vaccines are untested and unproven
The first vaccine was developed in the 1700s to prevent smallpox, a disease that killed one-third of the people it infected. After widespread vaccination began in the 1930s, the disease was eradicated from industrialized nations within 30 years. A global vaccination campaign completely wiped out smallpox by 1980. The polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s, and by 1979, was eradicated in the US. Today, polio only occurs in a small number of countries around the world.
“People forget that until the 1950s, people got polio and had post-polio syndrome — which can cause physical impairment and disability. These vaccines are preventing ugly diseases,” says Kennaley. For example, mumps can cause infertility in men, and measles can cause hearing loss and even brain damage.
Although some diseases, like flu and COVID, evolve so rapidly that vaccines must be updated annually, the underlying science that makes them effective remains constant. Entirely new vaccines must pass three stages of clinical trials before approval by the FDA, and often, long-term testing continues after approval.
Some infections, such as rabies, which can be spread by animals cannot be fully eradicated, but those that occur only in humans, including measles, could be eradicated by universal vaccination. Washington’s current measles outbreaks were entirely preventable.
“Along with clean water and proper sanitation, vaccines are probably the most important medical development of modern times. Collectively, vaccines have prevented more deaths than other medical interventions combined,” says Kennaley.
Misunderstanding: Natural immunity is better than vaccination
Kennaley explains that the number of antibodies in your blood shows your immunity against a specific disease.
“You can measure these things by taking antibody titer levels. Whether a person has been exposed to the measles naturally or has had a vaccine, it’s the same number. There isn’t an advantage from natural immunity,” she says.
However, there is a significant disadvantage to developing immunity through natural exposure — the very real chance of getting sick from the disease you are trying to prevent. New research indicates that some vaccines may also have a bonus benefit.
“These viruses potentially turn on genes in the human body. The perfect example is the relationship between chickenpox and shingles,” says Kennaley, but other viruses may activate cancer genes. Vaccinating to prevent common diseases may actually be preventing more serious illnesses down the road.
Misunderstanding: Vaccines contain toxic chemicals
“Vaccines do not contain toxic chemicals. Vaccines manufactured in this country or abroad are subject to strict guidelines,” says Kennaley. Supervised by FDA, manufacturers must test every batch to ensure consistent quality.
The preservative thimerosal, which contains a short-lived form of mercury, was removed from childhood vaccines in the U.S. in 2001. Other ingredients that have sparked concern are present in much lower amounts than people are exposed to in daily life. The human body produces formaldehyde, which is 220 times more concentrated in healthy blood than in the injection it keeps sterile. Breast milk and numerous food sources contain more aluminum salts than any vaccine.
Misunderstanding: The flu vaccine can cause the flu
“Every flu vaccine season a number of people come and say, ‘Every time I got the flu vaccine, I got the flu,’ and it’s possible to have a 24-to-48-hour transient flu-like illness with the vaccine,” says Kennaley. But those flu-like symptoms are not caused by the flu itself; they are an indication that the immune system is busy developing antibodies. That immune response, or the cold a person catches later in the season, is only mistaken for the flu because vaccines have made flu much less prevalent and people have forgotten what influenza is really like. If it only lasts a few days or you are capable of going to work, it isn’t the flu.
Kennaley says, “Symptoms of the actual flu include high fevers and headaches and aching all over and usually a prolonged cough, and the risk of pneumonia. If you have it, you are down and out.”
Misunderstanding: Vaccines cause autism
Thirty years ago, a gastroenterologist’s article linked vaccines with autism in the public mind. The article was soon retracted because it did not meet scientific standards. It only looked at 12 children and had no control group. Since then, there have been at least fifteen large, well-designed, peer-reviewed studies in multiple countries examining the question, and not a single one of them found any connection at all between any vaccine or vaccine ingredient and autism.
Kennaley says there are other reasons that explain the dramatic rise in autism diagnoses since the 20th century.
“Part of it is that we’re much better at diagnosing autism,” says Kennaley. Autism was first described in 1925, and diagnostic criteria weren’t established until 1980. Those criteria were updated to the autism spectrum as we understand it today in 2013. With early screening and better diagnostic criteria, autism diagnoses increased.
“And that’s a good thing because the purpose of diagnosing it is so you can do interventions. These children and these adults, they’ve always been there,” says Kennaley. But in the past, many of them lived without a diagnosis and did not receive the interventions and services they needed.
Misunderstanding: Multiple vaccines overwhelm the immune system
Whether a person receives one vaccine or several, the side effects and effectiveness are about the same.
“You can have a transient 24-hour, low-grade fever, a rash. Sometimes there’s soreness in the area. But in terms of effectiveness, that doesn’t change,” says Kennaley.
Combined vaccines and multiple shots at once are usually more convenient than making extra trips to the clinic. But within certain parameters — some vaccines are more effective with a well-timed booster.
“I don’t think there’s necessarily a totally right or totally wrong way to do it. The bottom line is, get your kids their immunizations. Okay, that is the important part. How many you do or don’t do in a day? That’s a flexible schedule,” she says. “The only exception is if your child has a true allergy — for example, a severe egg allergy. Then the schedule and what vaccines they can and can’t be given has to be changed.”
The science behind vaccination is complicated and when you’re making decisions about your child’s health, it’s easy to be frightened by tragic stories. It is also easy to underestimate the risks of remaining unvaccinated when you’ve never seen someone with long-term health issues from measles, mumps, rubella or polio.
“Because of vaccines we’re not seeing these diseases, which is great. But people can lose perspective, sometimes, when they’re looking up all this other information. They need to actually look up the real symptoms and complications of these diseases,” says Kennaley.
Finding reliable sources for medical information is not as easy as it used to be.
Make sure whatever site you’re going to is actually based on science and research,” says Kennaley. Social media is rife with misinformation, but Kennaley says the National Institutes of Health still publish accurate, current information, even if it can be technical reading. The websites of major scientific and medical journals, and research facilities, such as the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic and John Hopkins Hospital are trustworthy sources. She does not recommend going into online chat rooms for medical advice.
And of course, you can discuss your questions with your family physician. Social media influencers, political appointees and friends with strong opinions don’t always have a medical degree, but your healthcare provider does. And that’s who you should trust.
Editor’s note: This article was sponsored by Western Washington Medical Group.
