Evidence confirming the vaccination schedule for children was explained

Before their immune system matures, adolescent children are particularly susceptible to infections and illnesses much more than adults in the case of some common diseases.

That is why vaccination programs for children turned out to be such a benefit for public health. Over the past 30 years, the recommended vaccines for children have prevented about 1.1 million deaths and 32 million hospitalizations in the United States.

The recommended schedule of these vaccines is first determined by the Advisory Committee of the Control Center and Prevention of Diseases, which reviews the recommendations and decides whether to accept them. Commission members – which include experts in the field of vaccinations, infectious diseases, pediatrics and public health – meet several times a year to review the latest clinical trials and data on health and safety of the general population.

Today, children vaccinated according to these recommendations are protected against 16 diseases, including infections that can cause paralysis, brain damage and deadly fever. Those who have not been given the recommended injections or who follow the alternative schedule – which according to research is approximately the truth 27 percent of children in the USA – They may be exposed to a greater risk of developing those diseases that can be prevented.

“When we start separating the information, there is a danger that either the child will be exposed, or we will not catch him at all and completely overlooked,” said Dr. Beth Thielen, a doctor of infectious children’s diseases at the University of Minnesota.

Why is the vaccination schedule as it is?

To understand why doctors recommend vaccination according to a specific schedule, it is worth knowing what protection children need and when. “We want them to have maximum protection when they need it, and when they are most exposed to a grave infection before they are exposed,” said Dr. Leila Soscho, a doctor of infectious children’s diseases at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. “Secondly, we want to give the vaccine doses when the child’s immune system is mature enough to react well.”

The vaccine against hepatitis B is recommended after birth, because an infection that can lead to eternal liver and cancer damage is highly transmitted during delivery. It can also spread through blood drops on surfaces or skin. About 18,000 children infected every year before the vaccine, About half of them at birth. Currently, viral hepatitis B among children in the US is occasional.

During an eight -week check -up visit in a child, doctors recommend injections to protect against pertussis, tetanus and polio, as well as other infections that can cause pneumonia, brain edema and heart damage. At this point, the child’s immune system will be mature enough to effectively produce antibodies, proteins protecting the body against specific infections.

To maximize protection, these vaccines require additional doses for the next year and a half to maximize protection, explained Dr. Ben Hoffman, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Pediatrician at the University of Health and Science in Oregon. At the age of about the sixth month, children should also start receiving annual vaccines to protect against flu and Covid-19, which can be fatal to them.

Thanks to the protective antibodies they receive from the mother in the uterus, children are born resistant to several perilous infections, including hepatitis A, Oder, Pig and Rosary. This means that some vaccinations can wait until the immunity weakens – at the age of about the first year of age – said Dr. Thielen. At this age, children also receive chickenpox vaccines.

Just before the kindergarten, children receive another series of injections reminiscent of providing the immune system with another update.

What happens when parents move away from the recommended schedule?

Parents who do not want to follow the recommended schedule often do it because they are afraid that children will receive too many vaccines at once, said Dr. Thielen, or they can worry that some will be given too early. Some public figures, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also question the vaccines included in the list.

There is no evidence that the number of vaccines that children receive is harmful – she added. And all vaccines in the schedule remained strictly tested for safety – Both individually and to make sure that they are protected and effective in combination with each other, said Dr. Sosch.

On the other hand, there are only confined research on alternative schedules. Those that exist include a much smaller number of patients.

Pediatricians know, however, that these alternative patterns that may include resignation from some vaccines or shift during the recommended vaccinations expose children to vulnerability for a long time.

“I saw families who unfortunately lost their chance to vaccinate, and these vaccines did not protect their children,” said Dr. Hoffman.

Doctors also observe that more and more children are suffering from infections that once rarely happened. A few years ago, a child with tetanus infection appeared at the University of Health and Science in Oregon, said Dr. Hoffman. “I don’t think that not a single person in Ohu see tetanus before,” he said. The child was in the intensive care unit for months.

Doctor Thielen said that she looked after children with measles and eternal brain damage as a result of meningitis. She added that all of them fell ill with diseases that vaccines could prevent.