Female Speaker: With the pace of progress in medicine, some parents feel overwhelmed. They wonder if their children really need some of the newer vaccines, like Hepatitis B and the Varicella vaccine against chicken pox. While most kids will get chicken pox and get over it, every year in the United States, more than seven thousand children are hospitalized with chicken pox, 40 will die. It's impossible to tell which child will have problems.
Female Speaker: Hepatitis B infection damages the liver, and can lead to liver cancer, cirrhosis, and death. Each year, more than two hundred thousand people in the United States are infected, and each year six thousand people die from it. But many people don't realize they have it. Even if a pregnant woman unknowingly carries the Hepatitis B virus, she can help prevent the disease in her newborn if the child is immunized within twelve hours after birth. Hepatitis B immunizations, like many others, are not just for babies. Older kids who did not receive it early are required to begin the series before entering certain grades. Most new Hepatitis B infections occur during adolescence. Hepatitis B can be transmitted through sexual contact or contact with a contaminated needle, which can happen during tattooing or body piercing.
Female Speaker: One of the biggest concerns for parents is, will the immunization cause the disease it's supposed to prevent? The fact is it's impossible to acquire disease from most immunizations. Only vaccines made with weak and live viruses like the Varicella and oral polio vaccine can possibly cause illness, and that risk is extremely low. In the case of Polio, the risk is being eliminated. The current recommendation indicates that only the inactivated polio virus vaccine be used. Another big concern, what if my child has a bad reaction?
Female Speaker: The most common reactions to vaccines are minor, including redness and swelling where the shot was given, fever, and rash. There have been improvements made in vaccines in the last few years. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends the DTaP vaccine, which uses only parts of the killed pertussis cell. This vaccine is associated with significantly fewer side effects.
Female Speaker 2: Okay Denise, how has everything been since Riley had her immunizations?
Denise Lawson: She's been fine.
Female Speaker 2: Any doctors visits or medications?
Female Speaker: Jeff and Denise Lawson believe the benefits of the immunization for their daughter Riley far outweigh the risks.
Jeff Lawson: My feeling sort of was the odds of her having a reaction are probably pretty low. I'm sort of a scientific person and everything, and if you look at the odds, I mean, you have to get your kids immunized. There is just no way that a kid in today's age should go through without being protected against all the nasty bugs and stuff that is out there.
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