Since you asked, vaccinations...

I don't have any kids, and I'm not a doctor. You all know this, but I'm just saying. I've read with interest quite a bit about vaccinations (here, for instance).

Some people think vaccinations are bad, or the number of vaccinations children get is too high or that vaccinations aren't right for their kids. Legally, families can choose to vaccinate or not - states require certain waivers and doctors are also instrumental in such decisions. I say vaccinate. I say this for several reason, not least of which is my recent study of science nor my work at preschools. Let me lay it down for you:

• Vaccinations are remarkable. Microbiologist Edward Jenner figured out vaccines after a milkmaid said she didn't get smallpox after being exposed to cowpox. Jenner got a "volunteer" (an orphan) injected some cowpox inside him and then exposed him to smallpox later - no smallpox for the brave volunteer! Bravisimo!
  

• If we all get vaccines we are all helped. Most of us can survive a bout of measles or mumps. Many of us enjoyed a week of from school with chickenpox (watching The Princess Bride and using the cool crayon-pencils my mom bought me!). But, some people get very sick from the diseases we are vaccinated for. Those people are most often immunocompromised - for whatever reason it's easier for them to get sick and easier for being sick to turn into being very sick (or worse). Immunocompromised individuals are worthy of your sympathy - they are very young, very small, very weak, very old, or very compromised. Being compromised means that the body prioritizes one thing (like fighting cancer or a serious infection) over something else (like growing hair or fighting tiny viruses). We aren't vaccinated just for ourselves.
  

• Travel. What's eradicated? Smallpox. That's it. People on earth still get polio, malaria, yellow fever, rubella, tapeworm, mumps, measles, rubella and tons of other infectious diseases. Eradicating smallpox was the biggest deal since... well, eradicating smallpox. It's a big deal. If you aren't vaccinated you can't travel. When I visited Mali in West Africa you can bet - even at the worst airport in the world - they checked my World Health Organization vaccination card to see my yellow fever vaccine.
  

• Trust your doctor. I love my doctor. I ask her questions, she answers me, we talk. I know not every doctor is as great as mine, but it's important to trust your doctor and trust medicine. My doctor says it's smart for me to get a flu vaccine so I do. B's doctor doesn't think he needs one so he doesn't. We're both fine, and even if we're not we trust that our doctors helped us make educated decisions. The same is very true for parents, I think. According to peer-reviewed studies published in scientific journals vaccines are wise and safe. Doctors can alter vaccine schedules and help families choose vaccines that work for them (use the oral polio vaccine instead of the inactive-injected one, or skip a vaccine until later).

• Lastly, get vaccinated for what we don't know. We don't know how viruses and bacteria can change. For instance, we know that rotavirus - a gastrointestinal bug - can seriously harm infants. Babies can get sick and dehydrated and, in some cases, so dehydrated and sick they die. If you chose not to get your child vaccinated for rotavirus your child might not get sick, but could easily pass rotavirus along, or just help rotavirus get stronger. Microbes are tricky.
  
  This is my own rant - we don't know how strong bugs can get, or how they get strong exactly. But we do know that vaccinations help. If we can say that we want to help anyone - anyone at all, in the whole world - I think the idea of helping kids be healthier is one we can get behind. We can get behind it because we know it works. Science - and its dear friend history - say so.
  

I know there's a lot to the argument for vaccines (and really - truly - very little to say against vaccines as a whole, according to science). As a friend of little ones and a friend of science I wanted to say my piece.