No vaccinations for baby worries grandma

DEAR DOCTOR: My son and his wife have a 13-month-old son, born at home, whom they refuse to have vaccinated. In fact, the only time he’s seen a doctor was a month ago when he had a bad cold. How can I convince them of the merits of vaccination?

DEAR READER: If you ask generations who saw the ravages of polio or the infant deaths from pertussis, there would be no question as to the benefits of vaccines. Consider:

›Polio: Before the development of a vaccine, polio led to thousands of deaths and even more cases of paralysis in this country alone. The illness has no cure, so the best option is to be vaccinated.

› Measles: Before there was a vaccine, more than 90 percent of children acquired measles by age 15. In the decade before 1967, when the vaccination became widespread, 48,000 children were hospitalized for measles each year; 1,000 developed permanent brain damage; and 500 died. Since the vaccine, the number of measles cases has dropped 99 percent.

› Mumps: Before routine vaccination in the late 1960s, this was a very common illness, affecting about 186,000 children per year. For most children, it

was mild, but if the virus invaded the brain, children could develop irreversible hearing loss. Further, in males, if the virus affected both testes, chronic sterility ensued. Routine vaccination has reduced the incidence of the disease by 99 percent.

› Rubella (German measles): Before widespread vaccination against rubella, a disease transmitted from pregnant woman to fetus, an epidemic in the early to mid-1960s caused 2,100 deaths in utero; 11,250 spontaneous abortions; and more than 20,000 babies born with a syndrome that leads to hearing loss, heart disease, vision loss, liver dysfunction and developmental delays.

› Pertussis: This disease, known as whooping cough, was also devastating, with a high mortality rate.

Not all vaccines are perfect. But side effects are very rare — and are significantly dwarfed by the benefits of vaccination to the individual and to the general population. There is no evidence that vaccines lead to autism, as many people believe.

Robert Ashley, M.D., is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA.