What is Immunization

Nina Sebastiane: Immunization is one of the most hardly debated and contagious issues among new parents today. Ian wants all your questions and hopefully a like some of your fears. He is consultant pediatrician Doctor Ian Pollock from Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals in North London, Dr. Pollock thanks for coming on. What is immunization? Ian Pollock: Immunization is a way of giving the body a chance to meet an infection without risk for getting infection, it is not the process coming across lots of organism and infections in the world, if you not immunized what happens the first time you made infection as you get ill. In that illness, what happens is you can have all sorts of problems depending on the sort of infection. And what you put it amount of defense it tries to come for the infection and get rid of it. And most of the time you can do that. But some of the time it doesn’t and then you can be variable or you can die. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, now obviously there is been a lot of press tension this in particular one job, set of job MMR, what’s the latest understanding on the MMR. Ian Pollock: I think most medical people didn’t think was ever real problem with MMR, the well concerns among the people I think based on fairly little evidence and some more reason careful work doesn’t show any connection was took him on between MMR and some of the problems its was set to be associated with it. Nina Sebastiane: So as far as the medical profession is concerned it is safe continue to have your children immunized against MMR and please get one with it. Ian Pollock: Absolutely I think most of the word wondered what we are doing it, great Britain having the scare most of world dose get and gave it. Nina Sebastiane: Now one of the scares I know, parents, I’ve spoken to have expressed is, why we need to give it as F3 sort of one injection for three things at the same time, is not sort of over dosing the body. Ian Pollock: The body is actually terribly good, dealing with lots of things at one time that’s the natural process and any one time your body is covering, also as bucks sitting in your skin, sitting in your gut to normal millions of them, so that’s not unusual about the body dealing with lots of things of one time, that’s natural. If you gave every mother can separately we have to space them out it means more time, more injections but it also means you got longer not been protected. And if you want to get the benefit from these vaccinations you got to have them as earliest as we used more then safe and the work. So spacing the amount means you have more of it, more injections and you delay the protection to children who get ill in that time until you had four set of vaccinations. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, now I have had that, the three injections together used to be bonded with mostly, I don’t know -- style was the truth. Ian Pollock: There so bonding most preservatives, now most vaccines happened something to make sure that I go, they keep safe that intergrade some have preservatives in and there is in some of them and very soon long term preservative that has a soon momentum -- in it. I think that anyone believes so they could have them, so that’s small amount might has not as it’s an incredibly small amount. Nina Sebastiane: Right, Okay. So as far as you’ll concern it, Isn’t it okay, just to get an infection recover naturally like, like we did centuries ago. Ian Pollock: I guess that’s a view point, and I could image that these days, certainly in this country lots of people haven’t seeing some of the illness that the vaccine from preventing, I guess that’s a problem, because you haven’t seen whooping cough and many people haven’t, its hot and why you should try prevent it, the same question for measles many people haven’t seen these infections. If you get these infections and this still happens unfortunately many parts of the world, see young children die, and if they don’t die they get left serious side effects of this infections and that can be brain damage, cerebral palsy, deafness all its variant pleasant things. What the vaccines does, if you have the vaccination taken that are some small side effects these are nothing compared with a damage that can happen from these infections. Nina Sebastiane: Now of course some question that have been sent into us. Now I just want to run through few of them with you, can my baby child, baby child catch in infections from child you has just immunized, should I’m keep away? Ian Pollock: No, if its -- told most of the vaccinations were actually dead and other words that any living material told and the one that do you have something living don’t seem to be infectious to close the infection and somebody else, so let’s very safe. Nina Sebastiane: When I had my five week old, I want to take her swimming to the public bath and I was sold, Oh! Know you can’t do that; you can’t take unimmunized child into public pools is that an healthy life style Ian Pollock: It is a very healthy life style, very life style -- Nina Sebastiane: Okay good, because I know that advancing with swimming with my daughter anyway. Ian Pollock: No evidence let try. I was -- I think there was somebody theoretical concerns at some point that thing we believe is any evidence not -- Nina Sebastiane: Now how most vaccines given there. Ian Pollock: Fast, I give us injections into muscular, hide into the arm sometime into the leg Nina Sebastiane: Okay and why the immunizations given more than once in some cases? Ian Pollock: Well that always work when you given the first time, so sometimes this is the case with the MMR not all the, you got the vaccination you want to working with them if you give it a second time it tense to again almost a 100% in other words it is a good reaction the body reacts to it and makes antibodies. But some of them may be more not three for the bodies memory to what would you recognized those infections and to make a good memory defense so it does make a red infection, its got a good level of protection. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, what immunizations or vaccines should I say are being given at the movement for children in Britain? Ian Pollock: Well it’s a routine program which is hospital children. For some children a birth in the first week are offered BCG, which protects against TB, now that isn’t everywhere in the country but somewhere is different all children in somewhere it’s going to children at high risk. And then this is a promo vaccination given at two, three and four months and that’s all same vaccines at each time and when there is gap there is some boosters and MMR is given little later on at about 30 months. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, great. Vaccinations, injections I mean it seemed hopeful to inject such a small baby against something you know it must be painful for them. Ian Pollock: I think it must be, I guess we don’t remember those things very well. Nina Sebastiane: Fortunately. Ian Pollock: I mean some babies crying, some don’t. I mean have to say some babies look it at I’m wonder what you done in syndrome at, I think you have got a compared that with all the distress and trouble if you got the infection all the problems are go with that- be that fever, sickness, coughing whatever the problem is, serious problems being hospitalized having to have blood test, having to have treatment. If you wide up it’s actually a pretty good trade off, and I think most of the time the its offers a good balance when you protecting the child against oldest things that still that happen. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, I mean how did and what’s the over riding decision of whether or not immunized my child because of course with the MMR scare in the lot of people decided not to do it. Ian Pollock: Well as far as whey concern with medically there is actually no reason not to immunize the child. This is a very few conditions to make it worrying to immunize somebody. If they got some serious from the immunity, when it takes some careful thought , but for most children there is not doubt a much better of being protected against all these infections they running with brisk of coming across the immune. Nina Sebastiane: Dr. Ian Pollock thank you very much for coming in and speaking to us. Ian Pollock: Thank you.