AskDrSears - The Vaccine Book: Pneumococcal vaccine and disease: Some vaccines are much more important than others.

Pneumococcal vaccine and disease: Some vaccines are much more important than others.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

This bad bug is still fairly common. It's the most common cause of infant meningitis. Continue vaccination is quite important. That's why I start this vaccine very early in my Alternative Vaccine Schedule.

I know some parents choose not to vaccinate their kids, and some choose to delay vaccines until their kids are older. After reading all the available negative literature on vaccines myself, I'm not surprised that some parents make this choice. However, some anti-vaccine literature states that ALL vaccine-preventable diseases aren't that serious or common, and parents shouldn't worry about them. This simply isn't true. Some diseases ARE serious, and some ARE still common. While pneumococcal disease isn't the MOST common or serious, it certainly is high up on the list. Parents who decline vaccines, or who wish to delay them, may find Chapter 18 in The Vaccine Book of particular interest. It highlights which diseases are the most common and serious ones. Parents should be aware of how these diseases are contracted and how they can be prevented. Parents should also consider Selectively Vaccinating their kids against these diseases.

Labels: Vaccines and their diseases

4 Comments:

At October 12, 2007 3:50 PM , Anonymous said...

Does this vaccine make my baby more likely to contract an antibiotic resistant strain of meningitis? Does breastfeeding have a protective effect against pneumococcal disease.
Anyone know?
At October 15, 2007 12:59 PM , Dr. Bob Sears said...

Yes, breastfeeding helps protect, but no I don't think this vaccine makes it more likely to catch an antibiotic resistant strain.

HOWEVER, one problem is that we are now seeing more cases of Pc disease from strains NOT covered by the vaccine than we used to see of those strains. This issue is being researched, and more strains will probably be added to the vaccine in the future.
At November 24, 2007 4:45 PM , Anonymous said...

For those of us who have older babies, (mine is 15 months), who already had most of their shots, does it make sense to delay the rest of the shots until later at this point? Do the interval (amount of months) between doses matter?
Thanks!
At December 11, 2007 8:37 PM , Anonymous said...

Dr. Sears,

We have a 2 1/2 year old son and a baby on the way. I am so thankful you have written this book - I wish I would have had it when my son was younger. My son was Milk Soy Protein Intolerant (MSPI) which was severe enough to cause so much intestinal inflammation that he developed a fistula. I noticed after his 2 mo and 4 mo immunizations that he seemed to be worse (more irritable, seemed to be in more pain, etc.) Our pediatrician at the time kept telling me that the immunizations had nothing to do with my son getting worse. To make a long story short, I stopped the immunizations and we switched pediatricians to someone who was more understanding yet still did not totally agree with waiting on the immunizations - but she went along with it. Now he is doing well and despite the surgeon tell us that there was only a 1% chance that the fistula would heal without surgical intervention it did - but it took about a year. When he was about two years old we started finishing his immunizations.

I did not realize that Prevnar is made in a soy culture. I am thinking that this is probably one of the reasons my son was worse after these vaccines. Would you agree or do you know if there is a way all the soy is removed in the final vaccine? I would appreciate your opinion.

Thank you!

<< Home