The Doctor's Corner
National Vaccine Information Center

THE PEDIATRICIANS

ABOUT THE DOCTOR'S CORNER

Every day, mothers take their infants and children to pediatricians for routine check-ups and vaccinations. A trip to the pediatrician's office should be an opportunity to learn more about vaccination, as many mothers and fathers are seeking a partnership with their pediatrician that involves shared decision-making about which vaccines their children will receive and when.

However, many parents, who ask their pediatricians questions about vaccine risks or want to change the vaccine schedule for their child, are instead being dismissed from the pediatric practice. Parents report that some pediatricians won't screen out high risk children, such as those who are sick at the time of vaccination, and are even more reluctant to acknowledge that health deterioration after previous vaccinations may have been caused by vaccine reactions. Instead of being reassured that everything is being done to minimize vaccine reaction risks for their child, too many parents are being threatened with loss of medical care for their child if they do not agree to the one-size-fits-all vaccine policy approach.

The Doctor's Corner sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a place for enlightened pediatricians to publish referenced articles and stimulate dialogue about how and why vaccines cause reactions, injuries and death; why some individuals may be at higher risk than others for suffering a vaccine reaction; and ways in which vaccine risks may be reduced. The discussion on NVIC's The Doctor's Corner will also examine the relationship between infectious disease and vaccination and how early childhood experiences with both can influence immune function which may, or may not, lead to long term good health.

The National Vaccine Information Center has long supported the forging of a new and more enlightened partnership between pediatricians and parents when it comes to making vaccination decisions for children. Parents in the 21st Century are becoming educated about vaccination and want something more from pediatricians than inflexible administration of one-size-fits-all vaccine policies that fail to respect bio-diversity or the informed consent ethic. NVIC's The Doctor's Corner, then, is a place for intelligent, open-minded, compassionate and courageous pediatricians to demonstrate that they understand and are prepared to respond in a different way to parental concerns about vaccination.