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Letter from our providers regarding vaccination to the families of Fox Valley Women & Children's Health Partners:
We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives.We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines.
- We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published annually by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
- We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
- We firmly believe that thimerosal, a preservative that had been found in vaccines for decades (and has not been in almost all vaccines since 2001) did not and does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
- We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most health-promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers.
These things being said, we recognize that there has always been and will likely always be controversy surrounding vaccination.
Indeed, Benjamin Franklin, persuaded by his brother, was opposed to smallpox vaccine until scientific data convinced him otherwise. Tragically, he had delayed inoculating his favorite son Franky, who contracted smallpox and died at the age of 4, leaving Ben with a lifetime of guilt and remorse. Quoting Mr. Franklins's autobiography:
"In 1736, I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it, my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen."
The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given.
Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis or even chickenpox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. Such success can make us complacent about vaccination. But such an attitude, if it becomes widespread, can only lead to tragic results.
We recognize that the choice to vaccinate may be a very emotional one for some parents. We will do everything we can to empower you to objectively determine if vaccinating according to the recommended schedule is the right thing to do. However, should you have doubts, please schedule an appointment to discuss these with your health care provider in advance of your visit. If vaccine concerns dominate the allotted time of a well child visit, your provider will ask you to schedule a vaccine hesitant visit to specifically address these concerns. In some cases, we may alter the schedule to accomodate parental concerns or reservations. Please be advised, however, that delaying or breaking up the vaccines to give one or two at a time over two or more visits goes against expert recommendations, and can put your child at risk for serious illness (or even death) and goes against the advice of the providers at FVWCHP.
Such additional visits will require additional co-pays on your part. Furthermore, please realize that you will be required to sign a Refusal to Vaccinate acknowledgement in the event of lengthy delays.
As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. Thank you for your time in reading this policy, and please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mark Regnier
Dr. Maria Cocjin
Dr. Thomas Dovidio
Dr. Jill Kelly
Dr. Sarah E. Kern
Gina Juliano, CPNP
Diane Waszak, CFNP
