Vaccinations: What Parents Should Know
Each Wednesday throughout January, we will be publishing an article by Dr. Ayla Wilson, ND, who will be providing us with a naturopathic perspective on some of our most common questions. Today, she covers vaccinating your child.
The long-standing debate and conflicting evidence about whether vaccines are effective in preventing disease or detrimental to your child’s health has many parents confused about what the best choice for their child is. Here is some information about how vaccines work and what’s in them.
How vaccines work
Vaccines are usually composed of an inactivated virus that the body’s immune system recognizes as a foreign invader. The vaccine stimulates the immune system to attack this invader and remember it. If the body comes in contact with a true form of the virus, the immune system is ready to mount a response against it, thereby avoiding progression to full-blown and potentially life-threatening disease.
One of the first things parents should know about vaccines is that they do not guarantee full protection from development of that disease. The effectiveness of the vaccines depends on many factors and, as a result, vaccinated individuals may contract diseases they were vaccinated against.
Possible side effects
Parents should also be prepared for the possibility of a reaction. This may include fever and chills, an allergic reaction, crying, transient paralysis, seizures, or more serious complications. Parents can report adverse events after vaccination to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) by downloading the applicable form and sending it in.
Common concerns
A common concern is the number of vaccines administered to a child and at what age it’s safe to administer vaccines. The current British Columbia immunization schedule recommends the first set of vaccinations at the age of 2 months. This set includes the DTP-HB-IPV-Hib vaccine (containing viral components of six life-threatening diseases), the PCV 13, and the Men-C vaccine. Some people are concerned that young children’s undeveloped immune system cannot handle this viral barrage, leading to disruption of their emergent immune system and potentially chronic autoimmune diseases later in life.
Also included in vaccines are adjuvants and preservatives that may contain heavy metals which are known neurotoxins. Infants and children are particularly susceptible, as their brain and nervous systems are still developing. An adjuvant increases the efficacy of the vaccine, and a common adjuvant used in vaccines is aluminum hydroxide. Preservatives, such as Thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, are used to maintain sterility of multi-dose vaccine vials. Only single-dose vaccine vials do not contain thimerosal. More information on the names of these vaccines and their ingredients can be obtained from the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI).
Born and raised in Vancouver, Dr Ayla Wilson attended the University of British Columbia for her pre-med education before attending the Naturopathic Medicine program at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster.
