No two days or patients are ever alike when you’re a primary care physician. John M. Blumer, M.D., board-certified in family medicine, sees this in his practice at Southeast Georgia Physician Associates-Primary Care in Brunswick.
Some of his patients follow recommended immunization guidelines for themselves and their children. Others procrastinate; some remain unvaccinated. To recognize National Immunization Awareness Month, Dr. Blumer wants to address their concerns.
Myths and Misunderstandings
“The most common myth I hear is that vaccines make you sick. People say, ‘The flu shot gave me the flu,’ or ‘I don’t want to get sick, so I’ll skip the flu shot.’ Experiencing flu-like symptoms from the flu vaccine is a normal immune response; it’s not an actual illness. Symptoms generally subside within 24 hours,” Dr. Blumer explains. “If you feel lousy after receiving a vaccination, your body is doing its job – it detected a foreign substance and generated an inflammatory response against it.”
The Pitfalls of Procrastination
During the beginning of the pandemic, many people had no choice but to postpone age-appropriate immunizations. “A few patients got shingles or pneumonia. Currently, I’m seeing more flu cases, which is unusual. As far as postponed childhood vaccinations, time will tell.”
People who have diabetes, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or another chronic disease, are especially vulnerable to the flu, pneumonia and other illnesses. “Any infection you get triggers a significant inflammatory response which puts you at risk for a heart attack or stroke,” says Dr. Blumer. “If you have COPD, pneumonia can be deadly.”
The risk of cancer increases in young people unvaccinated against the human papilloma virus, or HPV. Measles, however, is one of Dr. Blumer’s top concerns. “Measles is so contagious. It was declared ‘eliminated’ in the U.S. in 2000, but worldwide, it’s still out there. One in five children with measles is hospitalized; one in 1,000 dies.” As the disease waned, some parents grew complacent; others even held “measles parties” to expose their children and boost their immunity. Progress in eradicating measles slowed down for these reasons. However, the death rate is nowhere near what it was in the pre-vaccine period when three to four million Americans got measles every year, resulting in an estimated 400-500 deaths, according to the CDC.
The Speed of Prevention
On average, Dr. Blumer says, “it takes around 15 years and about a billion dollars for a new vaccine to go through all the research trial phases.” What made the COVID-19 vaccine move so fast? “The government funded Operation Warp Speed, which removed the financial risk of developing the vaccine in Phase 1 and Phase II trials so that vaccine manufacturers were essentially able to go straight to Phase III.” The Phase III trials determine whether a vaccine will prevent a particular disease and whether it’s safe when given to thousands or tens of thousands of participants. If trials show the vaccine is effective and safe, it is licensed.
Because coronaviruses (the virus causing COVID-19) are highly contagious, scientists were studying them for decades before the pandemic. The groundwork for an mRNA vaccine – the kind used to combat COVID – was already in the works. “As rapidly as the COVID vaccine developed, people thought there wasn’t enough time to know the long-term effects. But, if you look at previous vaccine trials, most severe side effects were detected within the first two months after administration,” Dr. Blumer explains. By June 2022, over 5.22 billion people worldwide had received the vaccine.
The Big Picture
“Prevention is the whole point of vaccination,” says Dr. Blumer. Following recommended immunization schedules provides many benefits:
- Fewer missed workdays, meaning less economic impact on families, employers and society
- Decreased illness and death
- Decrease in serious, potentially long-term complications
Vaccines have eliminated many debilitating, disfiguring and deadly diseases in the U.S., including:
- Cholera
- Diphtheria
- Mumps
- Polio
- Smallpox
- Rubella (German measles)
- Whooping cough (pertussis)
Original source can be found here.
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