MedLink Health Connections Podcast

Understanding Childhood Vaccines: A Guide for Parents

• MedLink Georgia • Season 1 • Episode 20

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Many parents have questions about childhood vaccines and how the recommended schedule helps protect their children’s health. In this episode, pediatric experts Jennifer Rubner and Dr. Elizabeth Reece discuss how vaccines work, why timing matters, and what parents can expect at each stage of the schedule.

They explain how vaccines help prevent illnesses such as pertussis, polio, pneumococcus, and rotavirus, and share insights about how preventive options for RSV are helping protect infants. The conversation also covers common parent questions about vaccine timing, side effects, and what to do if your child has missed a visit.

Our guests provide helpful, easy-to-understand information drawn from current pediatric guidelines and trusted resources such as the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ HealthyChildren.org.

Tune in to learn more about how vaccines fit into children’s overall wellness and how to make informed decisions that support your family’s health.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to the MedLink Health Connections podcast. I'm your host, Tangela, and today we're going to be discussing a topic that many parents have questions about children's vaccines and how they help protect kids from illness. Vaccines play an important role in children's health, and it's natural for parents to want to understand more about them. Joining me today are two of our pediatric providers, Jennifer Rubner and Dr. Elizabeth Reese from our MedLink Banks and MedLink Danielsville offices. They'll walk us through the basics, answer some common questions, and share helpful information for parents making decisions about their child's care. Thank you both so much for joining me today. Thanks for having us. So let's kind of start off with some of the basics. Why are vaccines such an important part of children's health?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, vaccinations protect our children against serious diseases like measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hepatitis, chickenpox, influenza, and more. They won't protect kids from all minor illnesses, but they can prevent many serious diseases.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Can you kind of explain how vaccines work in simple terms for parents who may be unfamiliar?

SPEAKER_02:

Sure. By presenting through the vaccine parts of the protein that our bodies can recognize of these serious illnesses, that's through an injection that the child gets.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And you kind of covered some of them before, but what are some of the most important vaccines children should receive in their early years?

SPEAKER_02:

So when they come in for their two, four, and six month checkups, routinely they're getting one is called a DTAP that protects against diphtheria. It's something we really don't see much anymore, but our concern is we might start to see it if we aren't immunizing. If it looks like a horrible sore throat, but also produces a mucus that can actually block the child's airway and can be a cause of them almost suffocating on the um secretions that their body is producing. And then there's tetanus. That in adults can cause a cough that lasts over a hundred days, is kind of the way they used to describe it. But in a baby, can cause such respiratory distress that often they have to be hospitalized for supportive care. And these also, there's not really any real treatment for a lot of what we give. Many of these are viral infections, and that's another reason why we recommend getting vaccinated. We protect against polio. Um, we Jen and I were just talking about that. There's the last person that was on an iron lung for supportive care for polio just recently passed away. And we really don't want to ever see that come back again as we go through. That was considered gone in the United States, but we hope that it stays that way. Um, and then um also protect against um um a bacteria that can cause meningitis in babies, and then a different kind of bacteria called pneumococcus that can cause pneumonia in meningitis in babies. So all not super common infections, but again, things that can be devastating, causing children to be either hospitalized and in some cases even passed away because of these illnesses.

SPEAKER_01:

And also the um rotavirus is given at two and four months. And that vaccine, that virus used to cause such um horrible diarrhea in infants that they would be hospitalized for dehydration. And if the parents didn't recognize the symptoms, they could also pass away.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow. And the nice things is that these have been so successful in abolishing a lot of these diseases that I think a lot of times we don't really even think about them because we haven't seen them in so long. Um, you know, I very rarely see natural chickenpox, which is a good thing. Um, and we sometimes think, why protect against chickenpox? But uh we always kind of say Jen and I on this side of the fence um have unfortunately seen kids in the hospital that have had meningitis or um serious secondary skin infections after chicken pox. So a lot of these are to prevent, again, you know, these more serious uh complications that can occur.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, and how do vaccines kind of help protect not only the child but also the community?

SPEAKER_02:

So that's um a term called herd immunity, which is if your baby, say, is a month old and they aren't old enough to get these vaccinations, um, and you've got older kids, two months and above, and they're getting vaccinated for these, the idea is that if they're not carrying those germs, then they won't pass it to a child who's not able to be vaccinated, be it because of their age that they're just not due for that vaccine vaccine yet, or because um maybe they have an immune complication where they cannot get those vaccinations. Um, kids who are undergoing like cancer chemotherapy, certain vaccines they're not allowed to have until they're done with that treatment. So you're trying to protect everybody else by getting your kids protected because there's less of that illness going around.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

You're also protecting some of the older adults who they're no longer have the immunity has waned over time. Um, so if they're a high-risk adult with a low immune system, same type of issue with cancer patients or just an older adult, um, they're they may not be immune to these uh vaccines anymore. So you're also protecting them.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So I'm sure that you have you guys have many questions asked daily. Um so many parents do have questions when it comes to vaccines. What are some of the most common concerns you hear in your everyday life?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I think some of the most common is they just feel that the infants are too young to receive that many, um, that they don't um, like Dr. Reese was saying, we don't see these illnesses, so they don't see the need for the vaccine because they don't see the prevalence of the illness ongoing now. Um they're not thinking that if we stop doing these and have very low vaccine rates, that these illnesses will return quite quickly. Um that that hesitancy is just, I think, a generalized misunderstanding of the vaccines. Um, the misunderstanding they think that these are new and and that we're we're doing new things for their children or giving them too too many. Um, but really these the ones that are tried and true and on the CDC schedule have been around for a very long time. Um, they've gone through multiple peer review processes, they've gone through changes. Um, you know, one of the best examples I can give you for even the measles vaccine, um, which is a two-part vaccine, you get one, um, your first one at one, and you get your second one on the schedule now at four as a booster. And it's a very good vaccine. It gives you about a 98% protective against measles. Well, they found out, and I'm gonna age myself here, they found out about 30 years ago when they were only giving the one that their the teenage group's immunity waned, and so they started to add in that second one. Um, so I got my second measles when I was 15. That was 30 years ago. So people aren't thinking like, oh, the this is you know, this is new, it's only been around for so no, no, no, they just added a second one to the schedule 30 years ago. That's not even talking about how old the vaccine itself is. So these these tried and true, they're not old and new and and and they're you know monitored for safety and really they they're they're important and we want to see the kids healthy, is why we do them.

SPEAKER_02:

The other thing that I think a lot of parents will say, well, that one wasn't around, and like rotavirus wasn't around. I mean, it's now it's been 20 plus years, but um we actually give less um when you're thinking about what we present to the immune system, there's actually less now because they we used to give what were called whole cell vaccines. So that you gave more to the immune system, there was more chance of getting a fever or more of a reaction to it, you know, as you go through. Now they can take the tiny part from the germ that we want to present to the immune system, and because the science is so good to be able to do that, we can actually cover for more diseases and give less immunogenic compounds to the immune system. So they we actually see less side effects, I would tell you, more than more. Um, it's very rare to even see a child get a fever. We instruct the parents to give Tylenol just for comfort because they had to get you know injections into their legs, arms, but um, but typically it it you're not even seeing them get a fever. That's not as common. About 95% of kids don't even get that.

SPEAKER_01:

And really, and that's the most common side effects. People are very worried about side effects of vaccines or or damaging side effects, and and they're not as prevalent as people think. There is a reporting system that you can do if somebody does have a um a true reaction, but true reactions and vaccines are so, so rare. Um, it's just not something that you see that puts them in the hospital for having a vaccine reaction as people would think.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so some parents feel overwhelmed by the number of vaccines that children have to receive. What do you say to those who want to delay or spread them out? Or even have concerns about how many it is? Sure.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, the what I had explained about the whole cell versus the the the less immunogenic. So really we're giving less content than we used to, um, and therefore we have less reaction. The second is that the way that the vaccines are scheduled is really to protect against certain illnesses that will cause harm to the child at that time. We'll take protestis, for example. So protestis in an adult is is annoying. It's a pesky cough that's going to last for a long time, but it's the babies that are gonna suffer to have respiratory distress and sometimes respiratory failure and have to go in the hospital because of that fact because of that germ. So you're trying to protect them at the age where they're most vulnerable, and then a booster is they get a little bit older, so that we're keeping that from spreading to other children. Um, something like um rotavirus is not typically given to adults. We're going to give that to kids because of their small body size, that they have a higher um chance of being becoming dehydrated from the vomiting and diarrhea that goes on. And they do studies that show like that that vaccine was actually developed where I went to medical school and it's caused a 40% reduction in kids that need to be hospitalized for IV fluids. And there wasn't anything we can give to make that that virus go away, but it really affects the intestines and causes you vomit and have diarrhea. So if they're losing fluid from both ways, you're gonna have to give them something to get that back in. So we'd sometimes have just rooms and rooms and rooms full of kids that were having pooping and vomiting. And that that vaccine has really protected a lot of children and saves the hospitalization for many kids. Um uh other ones that you can think of that you would want to protect early, like when like polio as we go through. I mean, that that's something that if because we have um, you know, immigration pop population that comes in, sometimes we can, and we still know that we do have wild type polio out there. Um most people have just been protected against it as we go through. And so um, because that is something that can be ingested or or can um can still infect us, um, that's why we think it's important and we follow that schedule, you know, for a reason. There were immunologists that studied all of this that said this is the best time to give those vaccines to offer protection to kids.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'll add to that, there's no research that supports a delayed schedule. Um so parents will read books or or um read other opinions online, but that down to the actual research, the research supports the schedule that we have for a reason, and there's no research at all that supports a delayed schedule.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So if a child does happen to miss a vaccine, how does that kind of work?

SPEAKER_02:

Can they catch it up or typically the next time that they are in, we can do a catch-up vaccine. There are certain things that after a time you'll age out or get fewer of those vaccines because if it depending on how many they missed, but if it's if it's one or two, then yes, they can you know typically come in and get that done.

SPEAKER_00:

So for some parents who are kind of unsure about vaccines, what are some good questions that they can bring to a pediatrician to kind of help them feel more secure in their decision to vaccinate?

SPEAKER_02:

I think what I would do is more try to send them to reliable um information sources. Um, so that there is a lot of information on the CDC website. Um, there's the like the sources that we would recommend. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a website called healthychildren.org, and that's got a lot of information about vaccinations. We're there are there's called vaccine information sheets. That's what you can pull from the CDC that explains why are we giving this? What are the possible you know side effects of the vaccination? Um what's the purpose of it as we go through? And then if they want to start there to just to get some solid information. I I think we worry a lot about the fact that people get a lot of sort of secondhand information or you know, somebody's child that they didn't know that had an adverse outcome, but they there's no real search into how that happened or if that was indeed due to a vaccination. So um there's also a thing that's called it it's temporal in time when something happened when you do it, but it's not causation. So it means if somebody got a vaccination and had some sort of you know effect, but might not have been due to the vaccination. So that's a hard thing too, that you sort of fight as well about you know, vaccinations and safety. I think one of the things I try to tell all parents to to sort of say how much we believe in them is that, and I can speak for Jen too, I think is that both of our kids have been, all of our kids have been vaccinated um, you know, on schedule and got all the vaccines that were recommended. And so I I feel like I I try to tell parents I I definitely would not, you know, give my own children these if I didn't think that they were safe and effective. Um we hadn't wanted to do something to your kids that I wasn't doing my specialized.

SPEAKER_01:

I really feel that they are safe and RSV, very comfortable that all my kids were immediately to have on schedule. Um, and now we have just this the street rifortis um RSV vaccine uh for under eight months um during RSV season. And um and now it's becoming it's been around for several years now and it's becoming more readily available. Um so last year we started to see being able to give more of it because we finally were able to get more of it. Um and really, you know, that one's one that hits a little bit more home because most parents can think of a kid that um or a relative that they're like, oh, they were hospitalized with RSV, um, or they they had to spend, you know, they had to go on oxygen because at the hospital with RSV, or they, you know, were really, really sick with RSV. Um and so what that vaccine does is it decreases their risk of hospitalization, risk of getting RSV. Um, and so we really saw um last year the ability to give it more because of its availability.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. That's awesome. I know I never really heard of that, and then all of a sudden it was like everybody had RSV. Then I did hear about the vaccine, and I do feel like last year there was a lot less cases on my social media and things like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it is like we we didn't used to be able to test for all of these, and now we have rapid tests that can tell us if we have it. So where we might have said, we have a respiratory infection, now we can say many times, oh, it's RSV, you know, as we go through, and and while we had a suspicion it was RSV, we maybe couldn't tell somebody that that's what it is. So now when they can put a name on it, and now they know, oh, also there's a vaccination that my baby could get to try to prevent against that, or even they do for pregnant moms as well. They offer that so that that antibody has crossed before the baby's born. So there's like Jen says, I think people kind of hear that one and feel a little bit more okay about it because they've actually seen effects of those illnesses, where the other vaccines are almost like a victim of their own success. They've they've eradicated those bad illnesses. And so we sort of forget about it because nobody has seen a case of smallpox or, you know, like as we go through it a long time.

SPEAKER_01:

And I will say we we tracked our patients pretty decently for who got bifortis last year when they would come in and have some kind of respiratory um infection. And none of my patients that got bifortis ever tested positive for RSD or have or were hospitalized. Um, so it it has a pretty, I mean, six if you could look at their website and their information that they're giving out, I mean it's that vaccine's having a pretty high success rate in keeping kids out of the hospital and and from getting RSD.

SPEAKER_00:

If you could leave parents with one key message about vaccines, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02:

Me to go, then you go. We'll each give a little blurb. So mine would be please try to look at um scientifically sourced sources to get your information. Um if you have any questions, feel free to ask us. We are going to tell you that we believe that this is the way to keep your kids from having potentially serious infections that are preventable through vaccinations. Um and um all of us are in the same goal of trying to keep your kids healthy. I think that you wouldn't come to a doctor if you didn't think that that was their their, you know, their aim is we, that's why we went to school to do this. Um, and that we really are asked not asking anything differently than we have done for our own children.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I would just say, you know, stress the importance of them. Um, you know, like Dr. Reese was saying, it's their victim of the vaccines are victim of their own success because we're not um seeing those diseases, but our herd immunity in the community right now is so low that we will start seeing these diseases again. Um, and so a lot of parents are not necessarily very concerned about not getting their kids immunized and they're not as concerned about their kids even catching the diseases, um, but that's going to change. Um and so we're really worried about um, you know, those things coming back and coming back pretty like, you know, violently against the kids because they haven't seen it in a long time. Um, so just the importance of if of vaccinating your child to keep them healthy, to prevent these diseases, prevent hospitalizations, prevent um, you know, having to watch your child be horribly sick at home, um, miss time off of from work, you know, those are all things that you've got to factor in. You think about how much time you missed just with the flu. Um, you know, well, what if your kid got measles? You know, that's all that's a lot more time at home and missed work and unfortunately, watching your kid just be miserable. Um, so they are very, very important. Um, and to not to dismiss vaccines right away when they're looking at, you know, researching, doing reputable sources, um, and and not necessarily taking um, you know, people that you don't know's opinions over your your doctor, your provider's opinion, who's studied this for years and years and really, you know, knows this and has been in medicine for so long, um, do you know, really take to heart what they have to say.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for kind of covering this and doing this with me today. I appreciate everything that you guys have said and done for me. Um, so thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having us today.

SPEAKER_02:

Have a good day.

SPEAKER_00:

You too. Thank you for tuning in to the Medlink Health Connections podcast. We hope you found today's episode informative and inspiring. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Remember, the information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical concerns. Stay connected with us on social media and visit our website at medlinkga.org for more resources and updates. Until next time, stay healthy and take care.