Page 11 - Layout 1

IMMUNIZATIONS

historically relevant miracle that 100% of our two children had, quite
literally, survived their childhood. And that I have had the privilege
of raising our children, and practicing pediatrics, in a chapter of
human history that allows us to expect our children to avoid diseases
that killed their predecessors by the millions.
The number of lives saved by vaccines since they were introduced
is impossible to quantify. The World Health Organization on their
website estimates that more than 10 million lives have been saved by
vaccines alone between 2010 and 2015.
While much of the progress over the past century in childhood
survival has been part of a broader public health initiative (and we
have far to go), immunizations are one of those human achievements
that can only be appreciated by looking in the rearview mirror.
When we lose our historical perspective on immunizations, we
cease to see them as the incredible step forward that they have been There are purchasing groups such as CASA or Cook’s Children’s
in our collective human journey on this planet. I find it interesting Hospital’s PedsPal that can make vaccines more affordable. Our of-
talking to young parents who have been so protected by vaccines all fice has been using a new purchasing model called VaxCare for over
their lives that they have the luxury of doubting the basic science that a year that has reduced both the financial and logistical headaches of
supports them. keeping vaccines available. Or, you can use the model I used for years
It is difficult to communicate the impact of vaccines on the human – save your pennies till they squeak and try to keep up, all on your
race and all the lives saved in a twenty minute visit with young parents own, with the burgeoning and unexplained escalations of price. (I
who have never seen a case of mumps or measles, much less of polio don’t recommend this. Currently, the prices pediatricians in the
or diphtheria. Feeling like something of a fossil, I try to communicate United States pay for immunizations are disproportionately high and
to them a more immediate sense of what these diseases we try to pre- are increasing compared to the cost of vaccines in other countries.)
vent can do to the human body. However we manage to keep immunizations in our offices, and
Like anyone who grew up in a time when we were all still being im- whatever misery that may cause us – misery that is pretty much im-
munized for smallpox, I have my stories. My parents both had possible to describe to anyone who has not had their refrigerator full
younger sisters who died of polio. I wonder sometimes about the of vaccines lose power in a thunderstorm – just remember that any
cousins I might have had if my aunts had survived into adulthood. comprehensive list of human achievements that have changed the
My first code, on the 5th floor of the old Santa Rosa Children’s Hos- course of history puts vaccines in the top ten – up there with invent-
pital as a pediatric intern, was an infant with pertussis. (I will never ing the wheel and landing on the moon.
forget that tiny baby turning blue and struggling to breathe as another I am at that stage of practice where kids that I immunized as
intern and I scrambled to save his life, which he owes now to an ex- babies are bringing me their kids to immunize. Years of care have
perienced nurse who pushed us both out of the way and began CPR.) convinced them that I am not just whistling in their ear when I
And then there were all the patients with pneumococcal meningitis tell them I want them to receive vaccines so that they can be
in the PICU at University Hospital when we were residents in the healthy 20, 30 or 40 years from now, when I am long gone, and
1990s who went from being healthy children to being neurologically they have grandchildren of their own.
devastated or dead in a matter of hours. I can only agree with Nelson Henderson that the true meaning of
Immunizations aren’t perfect. With escalating drug prices (partic- life, and specifically of pediatrics, is to plant trees under whose shade
ularly when vaccines are produced by pharmaceutical companies that you do not expect to sit. When I think of the children in that quiet
have a monopoly on a particular product), purchasing, storing and graveyard in New England who never had a chance to grow up and
accepting the liability of offering vaccines can be an untenable finan- put down roots, I am thankful for all my own little sprouts who have
cial risk or just bad business – especially for a small practice. (If you received their vaccines.
would like an example of just how stressful stocking vaccines can be,
just ask any pediatrician about the price of Prevnar 13 and watch Lindsay Rockwood Irvin, MD is a practicing pediatrician at Alamo Heights
them go red in the face.) Pediatrics in and is a member of the Bexar County Medical Society.

visit us at www.bcms.org 11