Protecting Your Child From Preventable Diseases

When parents ask Sutter pediatrician Leonard Marks, M.D., how to best protect their child from illness, he recalls some tragic memories.

In Dr. Marks’ five decades of caring for children in Yuba City, he has seen more than 100 young patients die from diseases that can be prevented with safe, modern vaccines.

“I tell parents I’ve never once seen a child die from a vaccine. I’ve never seen a child harmed by a vaccine,” he says.

Pediatricians say vaccine hesitancy is on the rise, driven largely by social media. Yet scientific research shows clearly that childhood immunizations are among the most effective medicines ever developed.

“People are questioning now,” says Samyukta Dasika, M.D., a Sutter pediatrician also in Yuba City. “Most parents have never seen illnesses like measles or mumps, so they don’t understand the risk. And there’s so much false information out there on the internet. It’s hard to know what to believe.”

Why Vaccines Are So Important

Most parents today don’t know a child damaged by diseases preventable with immunization. But that doesn’t mean these illnesses have disappeared.

While measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, it’s made a dangerous comeback. Pertussis (whooping cough) killed 307 American babies between 2000 and 2017. Most were under 2 months old.

When they know the facts, parents usually choose to immunize their children, pediatricians say. Schools in California require vaccinations, and nationwide only 3.9% of kindergarten children were not fully vaccinated in 2023.

The Risks of Waiting to Vaccinate

Dr. Marks and Dr. Dasika say a few parents — about 5 to 7% — ask about waiting until their babies are older to get shots.

“The risk of waiting is real,” Dr. Marks says. “The younger you are when you get a childhood disease, the more likely you are to die.”

Dr. Dasika tells parents, “The age of your child really matters. The chance of your baby getting very sick from one of these diseases is much worse than when they’re older.”

She also notes that the experience of getting multiple shots at back-to-back visits to catch up is much scarier to an older child who remembers better than a younger infant.

When to Start Vaccines

The best and easiest way to protect your child’s health is to get their shots on schedule at their routine well-baby checkups. Babies usually get their first shots as newborns, and by 1 year old they’re protected against most preventable childhood illnesses.  

Finding Reliable Vaccine Information

Dr. Dasika urges parents to go to The American Academy of Pediatrics for evidence-based information. The group represents 67,000 pediatricians — the doctors you trust to care for your child — and presents evidence-based advice proven over decades of patient care. Remember, she warns, anyone can say anything on social media, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.