Which Vaccines Should My Child Get?

Which Vaccines Should You Choose for Your Child?

Parents often ask Dr. Thornburg a seemingly simple question: Which vaccines should I choose for my child?

The answer isn’t necessarily the same for every family. Vaccine decisions involve weighing the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases, the known benefits and risks of immunization, a child’s individual health history, and the questions or concerns that matter most to the family.

Thinking About Different Kinds of Risk

One way Dr. Thornburg approaches these conversations is by considering both the likelihood of an event and the severity of its potential consequences.

Some illnesses may be uncommon but can have serious consequences. Others occur more frequently but can have a wide range of outcomes. When parents are considering vaccination, these are different kinds of risk to think through with their child’s healthcare provider.

Dr. Thornburg discusses several immunizations routinely offered during a child’s first year of life and notes that the considerations may change as children get older.

When parents ask him to simply choose one vaccine over another, however, he emphasizes that the decision ultimately belongs to the parent. Different families may weigh the same information differently depending on their child’s circumstances and their own questions and concerns.

Questions About the Evidence

Another part of the conversation involves the evidence behind vaccine recommendations.

Dr. Thornburg has raised questions about the length and design of vaccine safety and efficacy studies and about potential effects on babies’ developing organ systems.

Parents who share these concerns can ask more specific questions: Which vaccine is being discussed? What studies were conducted before approval? How long were participants followed? What outcomes were measured? What safety monitoring has occurred since the vaccine entered routine use?

The FDA describes vaccines as undergoing clinical studies to evaluate safety and effectiveness before approval, followed by continued safety monitoring after approval. Looking at the evidence for the specific vaccine being considered can therefore be more informative than discussing vaccine research as a single category.

 FDA’s Vaccine Development 101 page

Parents may also come to the conversation from a very different direction. A parent can have questions about vaccination while also being deeply concerned about the diseases vaccines are intended to prevent. For that family, the potential consequences of infection may weigh more heavily in the decision.

Questions to Ask Your Child’s Healthcare Provider

If you’re unsure about a vaccine recommendation, consider asking:

• What disease does this vaccine protect against?
• How common is that disease currently, and how serious can it be for a child my child’s age?
• What are the known benefits and risks of this vaccine?
• What studies were conducted before the vaccine was approved?
• What safety monitoring has occurred since approval?
• Does my child’s medical history affect the recommendation?
• Are there circumstances that would make my child more vulnerable to complications from the disease?
• If we delay vaccination, what protection would my child lack during that time?

The goal of these conversations isn’t simply to tell parents what to think. It’s to help families understand the questions, evidence, benefits and risks involved so they can have an informed conversation with their child’s healthcare provider.