What are Vaccines?

Vaccines are a simple and safe way to protect us from harmful diseases! Since its creation, parents have had concerns that vaccines are unnatural and contain extra chemicals in the body. Well, the truth is that vaccines use what’s already naturally going on in the body to make us even stronger to protect us from dangerous diseases. 

When our bodies are feeling sick, they naturally produce something called antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that fight against diseases. Vaccines train your immune system to create antibodies, just as it does when it’s exposed to a disease. So, how a vaccine works is that it:

1. Recognizes the germ that is making us feel sick
2. Produces antibodies to fight against that germ
3. Remembers the germ and how to fight it quickly for the future 

The best part is that our bodies can remember this for years, decades, or even longer. Instead of waiting until we feel very sick from the disease, vaccines can prevent us from getting sick or extremely sick in the first place. It also saves us time and energy to do something else we enjoy rather than recovering from an illness!

Are Vaccines Safe?

Since vaccines were first made, there has always been criticism against this method, and we see how. Some parents are worried that they actually won’t protect our children that well and that the risks outweigh the benefits. I’m sure we’ve all experienced still feeling sick after receiving the flu shot.  

Being sick is never fun. Vaccines may prevent us from getting sick at all. That’s great if you are among those for whom the vaccines are so effective. However, the real reason we take vaccines is to prevent us from dying of a preventable disease. In modern medicine, vaccines also protect the many people in our communities who are immunocompromised. Most side effects from vaccines are small and go away quickly, like a sore arm or a low fever. Serious side effects can happen, but they are very rare.

It’s important to know that getting the disease is almost always much worse than any vaccine side effects. For example, tetanus can cause really painful muscle cramps so strong they break bones and “lockjaw,” when your jaw spasms so that you can’t even open your mouth. Many people who die of tetanus smother to death because the muscles in their ribcage and diaphragm have also spasmed. Measles, which some people believe is just a common childhood illness, can lead to brain infections or even blindness. Some of these common childhood diseases can cause death. That’s why the benefits of getting vaccinated are much greater than the risks. Without vaccines, a lot more people will get sick and die.

Vaccines and Autism

One risk that causes many parents to question vaccinating their kids is the risk of autism. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network survey revealed that autism prevalence increased from 1 in 36 8-year-olds to 1 in 31. We see this number go up as children get older due to more diagnoses. Autism affects nearly 4 times as many boys as girls.

In the media, our leaders are tying vaccines to autism, so we understand how people would become hesitant about vaccines and their effectiveness. The reality is that the rate of autism is increasing due to other factors, not vaccines:

1. Changes in how autism is diagnosed: Over time, doctors have changed the rules they use to diagnose autism. Today’s rules include more people, especially those who need less help. In the past, these people may have been missed or given a different diagnosis. 
2. Better tools for spotting autism early: New tools, like the M-CHAT (used since 2001), help doctors find signs of autism in young children sooner and more accurately. Early diagnosis and treatment is based upon good data that the earlier children are identified and treated, the better their outcome. 
3. More people know about autism now: More parents, teachers, and doctors know the signs of autism today. In 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics required that all children should be checked for autism at 18 and 24 months. This helped more kids get diagnosed and get help earlier.

We know some people are worried about a possible link between vaccines and autism. These concerns often come from a place of love and wanting to protect our children. To address those concerns, scientists have done many careful studies. They haven’t found any proof that vaccines cause autism. Autism is more likely caused by a mix of genes and other things that happen during early development. 

Also, having autism is neither good nor bad. It’s different, no matter where it falls on the spectrum. People with autism experience the world in another way. They might need different kinds of help. Just like anyone else, people with autism want love, respect, and support.

Vaccines can help keep all kids safe from serious diseases. They’re one way we protect our communities. At the same time, we need to make sure all families get the help they need, especially those raising kids with autism. More and more people are getting diagnosed. The world is changing, and we need to give support, not blame.