What if I told you that you had a tool that could prevent premature birth or miscarriage?
Would you be willing to use it? And what if I said it was a shot?
My name is Dr. Oded Bodner, I have an MD/PhD from the Technion and specialize in family medicine at Maccabi, but first and foremost I am a parent of two children, the eldest of whom was premature.
I can answer that if I had the option, I would be very happy to use it, and I'm sure my wife would be too.
So unfortunately, that kind of intervention doesn't exist yet. There are all kinds of ways to reduce the risk of preterm birth, but it depends on the cause and many factors that we have no control over and many things that we still don't understand in the medical world.
But, I can say that there is a significant tool that you as parents can give your children to prevent many diseases, which can cause severe disability and even premature death.
This is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest discoveries of humanity and modern medicine – vaccines.
In fact, this intervention is so effective that there are diseases that have almost disappeared from the world and that many doctors know about mainly through books.
Despite this, I can say that in my years as a doctor and also in my medical studies, I have encountered diseases for which there are effective vaccines, such as measles and whooping cough, which occasionally flare up, especially in areas where there is relatively low vaccination coverage.
This is the principle underlying "herd immunity," in which once a certain percentage of people are vaccinated, the ability of the pathogen to circulate among the population is significantly reduced, but when this coverage drops below a certain threshold, an outbreak can occur.
On the other hand, there are viruses, such as the flu, that undergo frequent changes, and therefore, to achieve good protection against them, it is necessary to get vaccinated every winter season.
There are many pathogens for which we do not yet have a vaccine, but which are constantly being developed with the aim of improving the health of all of us.
RSV is an example of a virus that causes respiratory illness, especially in young infants belonging to risk groups such as premature babies. Today, there is a passive vaccine given once a month during the winter months that aims to provide protection against it.
In recent years, an inactivated RSV vaccine has been developed that is given once a year and is significantly cheaper, and has therefore already been approved in the US by the FDA and included in the routine vaccinations by the ACIP for all infants. There is also an active vaccine for pregnant women, similar to the pertussis vaccine. These two vaccines are not yet available in Israel, and I hope they will be included in the health basket soon.
It is important to remember that premature infants are a group at greater risk for morbidity, and therefore the recommendation to provide vaccinations in most cases* is even stronger than for the general population.
The great paradox of vaccines lies precisely in their great effectiveness. Their ability to reduce morbidity to such a significant extent that many parents (who, fortunately, are no longer familiar with these serious diseases) are more afraid of the procedure itself and of possible side effects. However, it is worth knowing that vaccines in general are considered very safe because they undergo close and extensive monitoring. Additional reasons for avoiding vaccines stem mainly from the lack of reliable information, concerns about an action such as an injection, and the lack of understanding that even avoiding an action has the potential to cause harm.
It is difficult to study in depth a subject that scientists and doctors study for years to become experts in.
At the end of the day, just as we trust our doctors when we or our children are sick, that they will help us recover, and just as we trusted the doctors who devotedly cared for our children when they were premature, so it would be right to trust the scientific method and to trust science, scientists, and doctors who recommend vaccinations out of deep knowledge and understanding and out of a sincere and genuine desire to do good for us and our children.
If you still have doubts or questions, I invite you to listen to the lecture I gave on the subject (1) and to reliable sources of information that can help answer frequently asked questions (2-9).
*There are rare situations that will prevent certain vaccinations, so it is important to consult with the treating doctor who knows your children.
List of sources:
(1) Lecture on vaccines, Dr. Oded Bodner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3gl8VdvXYM&t=18s
Israeli websites:
(2) Madaat Association: https://www.midaat.org.il/
(3) Facebook group "Talking about vaccines"You can ask questions and professionals in the field will answer.
(4) The Israeli Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department website: https://www.chisunim.co.il/
(5) Vaccination briefing: https://www.gov.il/he/departments/policies/vaccine-guidelines-main
English websites:
(6) WHO- https://www.who.int/health-topics/vaccines-and-immunization#tab=tab_1
(7) The history of vaccines: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/a-brief-history-of-vaccination
(8) CDC recommendations
(9) ACIP
