On Top of the Fears, Fatigue
So Many Shots
There's a new epidemic among parents: vaccine fatigue. Over the past 15 years, the number of routine shots has risen from five to 20 for children up to 2 years old, says Margaret Rennels, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. New vaccines, including ones for hepatitis B, H. influenzae type b, and pneumococcal infections, have been added to the regimen. "This is undoubtedly leading to the mistrust and concern parents are feeling," says Rennels. In a survey of 1,600 parents of young children last fall in the journal Pediatrics, 25 percent worried that the sheer number of vaccines could overwhelm and weaken their child's immune system. Rennels says there are "no data to support the theory."
Still, the vaccine schedule, which requires repeated trips to the doctor and as many as five shots per visit, is hard on parents and kids. "There is a desperate need for combination vaccines," said Steve Kohl, a member of the Food and Drug Administration's advisory committee on vaccines, which met last week to review the first combination vaccine for five diseases--diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and polio. The committee withheld its approval, saying it needed more data, but one-stop shots are coming, says Rennels. Meanwhile, stick with the schedule. The alternative could be a lot worse.
This story appears in the March 19, 2001 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.