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Protecting the Health of a ChildApril 20, 2003Have you ever heard the screams of a newborn contorted with Tetanus? Have you ever experienced the listless stare of a baby with Polio? Have you ever seen a starving child dying with Measles? I have during my visits to countries too poor to invest in public health. None of the victims was vaccinated against the diseases from which each suffered and died.Fortunately, these are not experiences of today's American parents. For today's parents, my memories are mere statistics, lacking a sense of reality. This is our struggle in public health. Our well-developed tools of sanitation and immunizations make us very good at what we do-preventing diseases. But diseases prevented are not diseases gone. We must maintain constant vigilance as the diseases wait in the wings for any opportunity to return. Of course, parents want to do the very best for their children. Protecting their health is a huge responsibility. A sense of life or death can influence the decisions about health care for their children. Scientific data assure me that fully immunizing children is the right decision. I also have the personal experience that reinforces the statistics that most parents today just don't have. In fact, with vaccine-preventable childhood diseases so rare and vaccines so common, parents are more likely to hear stories that make them fearful of vaccines. For these parent's the statistics don't matter. I, too, feel the calamity of such an event and wish that we could drive the risk to zero. Cognizant of the tragedy of a serious adverse effect from a vaccination, we constantly monitor the safety of vaccines. We have made many adjustments to childhood vaccinations when the risk from an immunization grows out of balance compared to the risk of disease. For example, we stopped administering smallpox vaccinations in the United States before smallpox was eradicated from the world. Most recently, we stopped using oral polio vaccine when cases of vaccine-induced polio began to outnumber wild polio cases. I'm back to numbers and scientific data again and I'm well aware that not all parents are convinced. Even though most of us have not experienced the rare grave complications from vaccines, lots of us have heard tales of heartbreaking occurrences following a vaccination. A baby who died of SIDS was vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis a week earlier. A young child was diagnosed with autism shortly after receiving an MMR shot. The increase in childhood asthma correlates with the increasing number of vaccinations given to infants and toddlers. These stories speak to our hearts but they do not constitute scientific proof that vaccines are the cause. In fact, scientific analysis assures me that these are truly chance occurrences. It's like a toss of the dice. Babies receive lots of vaccines during the first couple of years of life. When something is a common occurrence, an unusual event may follow. It's pure coincidence. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that the cause of these tragedies is not the vaccines. But combating heartrending anecdotes with dry data and statistics is tough. The tragedies are real, while deadly diseases held in check do not seem real. Dr. Kim Thorburn is a Spokane Public Radio Commentator and Health Officer for Spokane Regional Health District. Radio Commentary by Dr. Kim Thorburn 
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