Dr. Lewis First (Provided photo)

Parents nowadays are reading lots about vaccinations – some of it factual and some less so.

This week I shall take my best shot at doing some myth-busting when it comes to separating the vaccine facts from the vaccine fiction.

First, I want to remind everyone of the key fact that vaccines help prevent many serious infectious diseases and save lives.

Many parents are concerned because they’ve heard that a child’s immune system will be weaker if they get vaccinated or get multiple vaccines at one visit.

This is not true.

Many studies show that the body’s immune system stays strong after a vaccine and can rev up to keep your child healthy if the germ we have vaccinated your child against invades their body.

In addition, being vaccinated to one disease does not weaken your child’s ability to respond to another disease.

So, if you can immunize to multiple diseases at once, the sooner and more effectively your child will be protected against life-threatening infections.

Another myth is that a child will get the disease from a vaccine that is supposed to prevent that disease.

If the vaccine is made with killed parts of the germ we are trying to protect your child from, but not the whole germ itself, then it is impossible for your child to get the disease.

This is also true for the COVID vaccine which contains mRNA or parts of the virus but not the live virus itself.

If it is made from a weakened or mild live form of a virus like the chicken pox or measles vaccine, then it’s extremely rare to get the disease but, if so, and your child’s immune system is otherwise normal, it will be a very mild form of measles or chicken pox, much less severe than getting a full-blown case of those viruses.

Getting the disease to build immunity is not the answer either as you have likely seen or heard how sick adults and even some children have gotten with illnesses such as COVID-19, flu, measles, and mumps in the absence of a vaccine.

Some parents feel they need not vaccinate their child since their children are healthy and since other children are vaccinated in the community that will protect them.

This is also not true. Each child who goes unvaccinated increases the chance that a life-threatening germ will be able to spread to others in your community.

Hopefully, tips like these (and not just sharp needle tips) will de-myth-tify you so you have a better understanding of why vaccinations are one of the most important things you can do to keep your children healthy.

Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and NBC5.