Immunizations, primary care physicians can save lives

Iwant to thank all of the former patients and fellow physicians for their kind notes and gifts on my retirement, and Darin Fenger for a nice article for the Yuma Sun newspaper.

I have been thinking since the death of my former partner in Pediatrics, Dr. George Darwin, and the point made by his son, Henry, that he had saved the lives of several children over the years. With good training and the ability to listen to the concerns of parents and reacting rapidly to a condition that threatens a child, we in health care do save a few children who would be lost without our care.

But the main way that health care providers save lives and prevent serious disability is by preventing problems in the first place.

This starts with good obstetrical care, where pregnant mothers are screened and treated for infections and conditions that could put their newborn at risk.

Nurses place ointment in the infant’s eyes at birth that could prevent infections that could blind children and give newborns Vitamin K, a practice which statistically prevents 4 to 6 serious hemorrhages, including devastating bleeds into the brain, in the first weeks of life in our Yuma infants. Mothers are immunized to pertussis (whooping cough) so that they do not give this disease to their vulnerable infants before the infant can be protected with immunizations, and the baby rides home in a properly used car seat.

Primary care providers then take over, and recommend proper nutrition, and accident prevention, including proper use of car seats and seat belts, avoidance of choking in young children, water safety and the fencing of pools and hot tubs, use of bicycle helmets, and proper use and storage of firearms. They also provide immunizations to children.

Immunizations and safe drinking water have saved more children than all of the smart doctors, good hospitals, and effective medications over the years.

Immunizations are not perfect, and have risks, but despite inaccurate information on the internet, their benefits far outweigh their risks. The smallpox vaccine was a bit crude and probably would not be licensed for use today, but it eliminated smallpox worldwide.

Likewise, polio, a viral infection that often put children in iron lungs for weeks, and killed and caused serious physical disabilities, was eliminated with the help of two vaccines and support worldwide from Rotary International.

The influenza vaccine works better some years than others, and is not 100 percent effective, but if everyone in the US received their flu shot every year, tens of thousands of lives would be saved.

So pick a primary health care provider who listens to your concerns and who has the training to react quickly to serious health problems in your child, whether they are a pediatrician, family physician, or a pediatric or family nurse practitioner. Then follow his or her advice on nutrition and accident prevention. And make sure that your children, and you as parents, are fully immunized.