I just watched the latest Nova program about vaccines. I recommend anybody who can manage watch it. They talk about what vaccines are and how they work. Mostly they investigate some cases where vaccines have caused harm, and where they haven't. Mostly they haven't. The odds of having a reaction from a vaccine is about 1 in a million. Those are pretty good odds, since the odds of getting a disease that could be prevented by vaccination are pretty short.
I am old enough to remember the "good old days". I personally recall having mumps, measles, and chicken pox. I also had something that almost killed me when I was 7. I don't really recall that, I was too sick. But those were standard diseases that everybody could expect to get. My sister also had scarlet fever and we were quarantined until she got over it. Of course in the 40s and 50s a parent's worst nightmare was polio. I remember the joy when the polio vaccine was announced. Just about every body got vaccinated. They had vaccination clinics everywhere to get the shots out.
The main lesson here is that unless your doctor has some valid reason to suggest not getting your child vaccinated, do it. The chances of having some kind of problem with the vaccine is extremely small compared to the chances of getting the disease.
Bill Gill
