Why vaccines are not a conspiracy of pharmacists? Why do pregnant women need vaccines? Which is worse - vaccinations or diseases? Immunologist Elizaveta Volodina reports.
Elizaveta Volodina
doctor immunologist-allergist
"Let's see what's wrong with the 'fashionable' vaccine myths."
Why do we need vaccinations?
Let's imagine: when you refuse vaccination, the risk of an epidemic increases throughout the country. What happens next? Everyone around you - women, men, children - is confronted with the infection that you decided to “keep alive”. The consequences can be dire: disability, chronic diseases of the endocrine glands, infertility, type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus. Output? Vaccinations are not just needed, they are necessary!
A clear and uniform vaccination schedule is needed throughout the country. All children of the same age must be resistant to infection - only then will it not be transmitted!
Let's look at what's wrong with the "fashion" myths about vaccines.
1) Vaccinations - a conspiracy of pharmaceutical companies
There is no benefit in vaccinations! Globally, the production and sale of vaccines generates 6.5 billion dollars - this is only 2 percent of the income of the pharmaceutical business! Imagine: the financial turnover of all vaccinations on the planet is equal to the income from one heartburn remedy!
2) Vaccines are worse than diseases
Let's take a look at the statistics. In the " pre-vaccination " Soviet Union, diphtheria was a terrible nightmare. In 1954, 73 percent of children were ill with diphtheria in Russia, the data for 1944 was even worse - the mortality rate among babies reached 70 percent.
The vaccine "DPT" (against whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria) has formed immunity to terrible diseases in almost one hundred percent of those vaccinated. If you think that the vaccine can do more harm than the disease - compare the numbers: according to the statistics of 2009, only 29 cases of unwanted side effects from "DPT" were registered throughout Russia.
3) vaccinations provoke autism
This myth emerged after an investigation by Brian Deere. The journalist wrote a dramatic story about the link between the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) and autism. Deep delusion! Genetically predetermined diseases do not depend on the injected vaccines. Scientists have published numerous articles supporting the link between inheritance and the likelihood of autism.
4) Harm for pregnant women
Vaccinations protect the woman and the unborn baby from infections. The most important vaccine for pregnant women is tetanus. It has already been introduced into the standard medical regimen in many countries. Additionally, I recommend getting vaccinated against whooping cough and flu to reduce the risk of danger and have a healthy baby.
If we have a safe and effective vaccine against the Zika virus, I will recommend it to pregnant women: this way we can protect the baby from "microcephaly" (a decrease in the size of the skull and brain) and other disorders of the body.
5) live vaccines cause disease
What are live and killed vaccines? Killed vaccines consist of microbes that have undergone heat treatment or "poisoned" with cell poison (formaldehyde). These viruses are grown in laboratories and are not capable of causing disease. The microbes in live vaccines are clean and active, but weakened. They are the ones who help us protect ourselves from polio. Let's not forget about neighboring Tajikistan - there has been an outbreak of polio and 420 infected residents.
Vaccinations for babies at 3 and 4 months are done only with a killed vaccine. If you wish, for an additional fee, you can vaccinate a child only in this way, but I do not see the point. The myths about the development of flaccid paralysis after live revaccination are destroyed by statistics: its probability is 1 case in 6 million.
Interview: Dilyara Telyasheva
