Following guidelines for when babies receive vaccines is critical for building immunity in young bodies. Skipping or delaying vaccines can expose children to preventable and potentially life-threatening diseases. (Image: © Self magazine) An increasing number of parents are concerned about vaccinating their children, questioning doctors about the necessity and safety of following the immunization schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, decades of studies have demonstrated that vaccines are safe and that administering vaccines according to CDC guidelines is critical for building immunity in young bodies, experts told Live Science. Parents worried about vaccines tend to ask similar questions, said Dr. Robert Jacobson, a physician in pediatric and adolescent medicine with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. They want to know if it's more painful to get three or four shots at once, if the baby's immune system can tolerate multiple vaccines, and what might happen if the vaccines are delayed. "Other issues are distrust in the health system [and] the government," said Heidi Larson, an anthropologist with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, which studies people's views on immunization. These fears may prompt parents to eliminate or delay vaccinations, but such a course can jeopardize an infant's health and raise their risk of contracting a preventable and potentially life-threatening disease, according to the CDC. Source
