By Art Simington

Copyright keenesentinel

I had the good luck to practice pediatrics in Keene for 30 years, and one of the joys of small-town practice is to have former patients and parents stop me in the grocery store and bring me up to date. Occasionally, even better, I still have a parent approach me and tell me that I saved their child’s life. Apart from the satisfaction these tributes bring, I always have to smile at a big, unrecognized secret — because my nurse has certainly saved many more lives than I ever did.

How could that be? The answer is that I never liked giving shots, so my nurse did all the vaccinations. Of course, it’s not possible to know how many people did not get measles, polio or whooping cough because of those vaccinations, but I’m sure it’s very many. Likewise for the other diseases that good vaccines protect us from.

Our country is currently at a public health crossroads. There is not just one reason parents are refusing vaccinations for their children, but the biggest reason is that almost no parent today has ever seen a case of measles, polio, or whooping cough. And the reason they have never seen them is something called herd immunity. If the large majority of a population has been vaccinated, the unvaccinated are also protected — the less disease, the less exposure to disease.

Another cause involves parents’ difficulty understanding that risk has two sides. I believe all parents want to do what’s best for their kids, but right now they are being bombarded with information about vaccine side effects, many unfounded. What they rarely hear today is that there is a risk of not getting vaccinated, because when the herd immunity falls, the risk of catching something goes up (google Texas, measles). And right now Keene and New Hampshire vaccination rates are lower than they have ever been since I’ve lived here.

Until recently the recommended vaccine schedule has been aggressively researched, debated and modified by responsible and expert panels of people who base recommendations on solid scientific information. Do those recommended vaccines carry some risk? Yes. Is not vaccinating a greater risk? Absolutely!

My advice: Read, follow responsible media, talk to your doctor — I especially suggest the American Academy of Pediatrics for current vaccine recommendations at www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Recommended-Immunization-Schedules.aspx

Please become familiar with the importance of vaccination and decide which level of risk you are willing to accept.

ART SIMINGTON, MD