Shot of Prevention

By Amy Pisani

Hi everyone. Thanks for visiting Shot of Prevention. Our mission is to foster an open dialogue on the importance of vaccinations and prevention for the health and wellness of you and your loved ones.  I’m encouraged by the increasing emphasis on prevention in our health system, but am continually amazed by the media frenzy and confusion surrounding immunizations.  My decade-plus career as the Executive Director of Every Child By Two and the experiences I’ve had as a mother of two young boys and foster parent to my teenage niece have led me to see how many questions there are about vaccines in the public domain, and how important it is that we address them candidly and accurately.

When I had my first child in the year 2000 the importance of understanding vaccine safety became of paramount and personal importance to me.  In my role as Executive Director of ECBT, I was fortunate to have the most recent studies and leading medical opinions on vaccine safety at my fingertips.  My atypical access provided the security I needed to comfortably and proudly vaccinate my children.

The life-saving value of vaccines had always been more of a concept to me until my husband and I witnessed the suffering of our 15-month old son who was hospitalized for influenza before the vaccine was available for young children. Since that time I have met too many families who have lost their children or have children with permanent disabilities because of vaccine-preventable diseases.  I hope that in light of recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as Hib in Minnesota, and the largest measles outbreak in 15 years, we can bring parents, members of the public and medical experts together to address this issue.

It is my goal to provide these valuable resources here on Shot of Prevention so everyone has the same opportunity to make well-informed decisions on such a critical issue.  As co-editor of this blog, I encourage everyone to comment and look forward to actively reading and engaging with you!

By Danielle Romaguera

Hello and welcome to Shot of Prevention! As co-editor, I am very excited to be launching this blog, and am looking forward to the conversations we will be having.  I hope that by having these important discussions that more parents can engage with doctors, nurses and other parents to learn the facts about vaccines and make informed decisions to help protect the life of their child and the lives of many other children.

Today parents have so many decisions to make, and I hope that through this blog, the decision about vaccinating themselves and their children can be made easier for them.  My daughter Brie had not yet reached the age to be vaccinated for pertussis (whooping cough).  Because she was exposed to the disease before she could be vaccinated, it ultimately took her life when she was just 52 days old.  I wish that I had had the opportunity to make the decision to protect Brie and have already informed friends and family that only those who have themselves been vaccinated for influenza and pertussis may visit our pending precious newborn.  I take heart in knowing that I have the opportunity to facilitate the important discussions about vaccines with others through Shot of Prevention.

By Mark Sawyer, MD

According to a recent Associate Press-GfK poll, more than a third of parents do not want to vaccinate their children against H1N1. Some seem to think the virus isn’t that serious, while others are more concerned with the danger of potential side effects than that of the flu itself.  As a pediatrician, the results of this poll are more than alarming, they’re downright scary.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have done an excellent job of informing the public of both the dangers of H1N1 and the value of the now available vaccine.  The media has done their part too, assuring parents that adverse events will occur this year that are totally unrelated to the vaccine. Yet parents are still concerned about vaccinating their children.  While many patients are lining up for the vaccine, I am spending a great deal of time each day trying to explain the safety and importance of the vaccine to parents who are skeptical.

I relay to them that the H1N1 vaccine really isn’t that different from the seasonal flu shots we give every year.  Vaccine manufacturers use the same process and ingredients to develop the vaccines; the only difference is the virus strains.  We change flu vaccine strains every year.  H1N1 vaccine has also been tested in the same way as regular seasonal vaccine is every year.  No shortcuts have been taken. The safety profiles of both vaccines are the same, meaning that the likelihood of unknown, serious side effects from the H1N1 vaccine is very, very low.

Many parents have heard about the 1976 swine flu outbreak, and the alleged link between the 1976 flu vaccine and Guillain-Barré syndrome.  That link was never proven, however, and has not been seen since with more than 30 years worth of flu vaccines.  I should also clarify that despite first reports of H1N1 as “swine flu,” it is in fact very different from the 1976 virus and therefore requires a very different vaccine.

Unlike seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus is disproportionately affecting children and pregnant women.  It is therefore critical that these groups get vaccinated for protection against this illness.  The CDC has reported more than 70 deaths among children nationwide already, and these deaths are occurring in children of all ages. I have seen previously healthy children in my hospital on ventilators because of H1N1 infection.  A hospital in Austin, TX has setup outdoor tents to handle the high number of patients reporting to the ER with flu-like symptoms. We have the means to prevent unnecessary deaths among our families.

The vaccine is predictable.  H1N1 is not.

H1N1 is spreading quickly and it’s only October, four months away from the peak of flu season.  Why not protect your family, especially children and young adults, against this new, dangerous form of influenza?

Mark Sawyer, MD, works in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and is Professor, Clinical Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine