Childhood obesity is a growing problem in America. Overweight or obese children can experience serious health problems ranging from asthma, sleep apnea, skin infections and joint pain to high blood pressure and diabetes. Obesity can also take its toll on a child’s emotional well being leading to depression, low self-esteem and social problems.
Our physicians strongly believe that all children receive their scheduled immunizations. Our immunizations are given according to the Centers for Disease Control and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Speak with one of our clinical staff or providers about recommended vaccinations for your child.
*All information below comes directly from the Center for Disease Control’s Vaccine Information Library.
Like any medication, vaccines can cause side effects. The most common side effects are mild. On the other hand, many vaccine-preventable disease symptoms can be serious, or even deadly. Even though many of these diseases are rare in this country, they still occur around the world. Unvaccinated U.S. citizens who travel abroad can bring these diseases to the U.S., putting unvaccinated children at risk.
The side effects from vaccines are almost always minor (such as redness and swelling where the shot was given) and go away within a few days. If your child experiences a reaction at the injection site, use a cool, wet cloth to reduce redness, soreness, and swelling.
Serious side effects after vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare and doctors and clinic staff are trained to deal with them. Pay extra attention to your child for a few days after vaccination. If you see something that concerns you, call your child’s doctor.
It isn’t very common, but it can happen. Depending on the vaccine, about 1% to 5% of children who are vaccinated fail to develop immunity. If these children are exposed to that disease, they could get sick. Sometimes giving an additional vaccine dose will stimulate an immune response in a child who didn’t respond to 1 dose. For example, a single dose of measles vaccine protects about 95% of children, but after 2 doses, almost 100% are immune.
Sometimes a child is exposed to a disease just prior to being vaccinated, and gets sick before the vaccine has had time to work. Sometimes a child gets sick with something that is similar to a disease they have been vaccinated against. This often happens with flu. Many viruses cause symptoms that look like flu, and people even call some of them flu, even though they are really something else. Flu vaccine doesn’t create immunity to these viruses.
That’s a reasonable question. Statistically, the chances of any particular child getting measles, pertussis, or another vaccine-preventable disease might be low.
But you don’t wear a seatbelt because you expect to be in a serious accident; you wear it because you want to be protected in the unlikely event that you are. If you’re never in an accident, the benefit of wearing a seatbelt might be zero. But if you are, the consequences of not wearing it can be very high.
It’s the same with vaccines. Your child might never need the protection they offer, but you don’t want him to be lacking that protection if he ever does need it.
