Nathan Money

Most parents have not witnessed the devastation that vaccine-preventable illnesses can cause children, particularly young infants, but we unfortunately see it in children’s hospitals all too commonly. Haemophilus meningitis, for example, is a horrendous bacterial infection that can cause life-long disability, or even death, among young infants and is largely preventable. Pertussis is particularly relevant given the recent US outbreak. Every infant <4 months of age with pertussis is generally hospitalized for observation because they can decline rapidly and without warning. Younger and premature infants have especially high risk and often are hospitalized for weeks and require care in an ICU because they stop breathing altogether and require intensive breathing support. Vaccination against pertussis is far from perfect – most breakthrough infections are in vaccinated individuals. However, vaccinated individuals are less likely get become infected and usually have less severe symptoms, which helps decrease the spread of disease. The most vulnerable population to pertussis is infants – so special care should be taken to ensure they are protected by receiving their first vaccine at 2 months of age (then at 4 and 6 months). Perhaps most importantly, pregnant women should be vaccinated against pertussis in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy to pass protection to their newborn from the moment they are born. If more parents follow the advice to not vaccinate, we will likely see more outbreaks like this year for pertussis and other devastating illnesses like polio, measles, and Haemophilus meningitis. Sadly, infants are the population most harmed by these decisions. As one of the few that has seen what happens when infants are hospitalized due to disease preventable by immunization, I plead with parents to choose to protect their children against these terrible diseases through immunization.