There was a time when no one questioned the family pediatrician. Mothers fed their children the foods the doctor advised when the doctor told them to. Families followed such advice religiously, and immunizations were considered a miracle. Parents now question everything, including things that have been considered sacred like immunizations. Immunizations have been protecting children for decades against potentially deadly diseases like hepatitis B, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, Haemophilus influenzae type b, chickenpox and pneumococcus.
Physicians administer some immunizations once and some more than once.
The immunizations start at birth, and the majority of the doses are given before a child's second birthday. But not all parents are routinely following those guidelines as they have for decades. Bruce Gellin, M.D., executive director of the National Network for Immunization Information, sees this as an issue that doctors need to address. The National Network for Immunization Information is a partnership among the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Nurses Association. Its goal is to provide information that helps health-care providers communicate with their patients and help parents to know where to look for accurate information.