By Mike Magee, MD

Kids will be starting school soon, and for parents of brand new students, that means taking a look at your child's immunization record. What’s the big-picture connection between immunizations and school? By requiring all new public school students to have up-to-date vaccinations, we've reached the critical numbers necessary to protect our population.

While individual immunity is extremely important, “community immunity” is critical from a public health perspective. That means the higher the numbers of protected citizens, the less likely a disease will spread from child to child and cause an epidemic.

We know from experience that complacency when it comes to getting vaccinations can lead to disaster. After about 30 years of steady progress in bringing down measles rates with vaccines, for example, immunization rates dropped in 1990. As a result, 55,000 new cases were reported, with 11,000 hospitalizations and 125 deaths.

There are now 13 vaccine-preventable diseases: diphtheria, haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, pertussis, pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis, polio, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, and varicella (or chickenpox). What do vaccinations against these diseases do? Basically, shots introduce the child’s immune system to a harmless portion of the microorganism for each disease. Having been exposed, the immune system gears up to destroy any real offenders that may be encountered in the future.

Today there are a lot of misconceptions about vaccines. In this week’s video, embedded with this blog post, I debunk six of them. Watch the video or read the full transcript, below, to read all of the myths. In the meantime, here are three of the biggest:

Myth: Vaccines cause many harmful side effects, illnesses and even death.

The Truth? Vaccines are remarkably safe and effective. Each one undergoes about 10 years of research before it’s approved by the FDA. After it’s approved, safety monitoring for side effects continues. Most side effects are minor and temporary, such as a sore arm or minor fever.

Myth: Disease is rare in the United States, so there’s no need to be vaccinated.

The Truth? We live in a global society that creates many opportunities every day for the reintroduction of microorganisms into our communities. Experience tells us that when immunization rates fall, diseases rapidly reappear.

Myth: Measles vaccine causes autism.

The Truth? There is no evidence of a causal association. A study of 530,000 Danish children, the results of which were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that rates of autism were no different among vaccinated and unvaccinated children.

The bottom line is any risks that might be associated with vaccination are minor when compared to the benefits. How do you feel about this issue? As always, your comments are welcome.