children s health issues
Childhood Vaccination Concerns
Use of Several Vaccines at the Same Time
According to the CDC's recommended vaccination schedule, children should be given several doses of vaccines against 10 or more different infections by age 6 years. To minimize the number of injections and visits, clinicians give many vaccines in combination, such as the Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine and others. However, some parents worry that the children's immune system cannot handle so many antigens given at once. Antigens are the substances in vaccines that are derived from the virus or bacteria and that cause the body’s immune system to produce antibodies to fight disease. Sometimes parents who are worried ask for a different vaccine schedule or ask to delay or exclude certain vaccines. However, the recommended schedule is designed to give the various vaccines at the ages when children begin to need protection against the diseases. Thus, not following the schedule puts children at increased risk of infection. Furthermore, because current vaccines contain fewer antigens overall (because key antigens have been better identified and purified), children are exposed to fewer vaccine antigens today than they were for most of the 20th century. Also, vaccines, even combination vaccines, contain very few antigens compared to what people encounter in daily life. Starting at birth, children encounter dozens and possibly hundreds of antigens during a single ordinary day. Their immune system handles these antigens without difficulty. Even a mild cold exposes children to 4 to 10 virus antigens. A child's immune system is not stressed or overwhelmed by combination vaccinations. (See alsoCDC: Multiple Vaccines at Once.) 