Vaccine Policy
We at Westwood-Mansfield Pediatric Associates firmly believe that immunizations are one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the last century. Vaccines are important for your child. Vaccines save lives.
We are a Pro-Vaccine Practice. We expect parents to immunize their children according to the schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The AAP and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both recommend administering multiple immunizations at each visit and not “splitting vaccines”. Multiple shots and combination vaccines are utilized for three main reasons:
- to provide broad immunologic protection to children when they are young and most vulnerable
- to minimizing the absolute number of shots needed
- to minimize the number of office visits, and thus the likelihood of medical error and the cost to the health care system
Administration of simultaneous immunizations has been extensively studied and determined to be safe and efficacious. There is no negative effect on the normal childhood immune system. The average child is exposed to millions of germs each day. The number of antigens found in immunizations pale in comparison to the load the immune system faces daily. There is no medical benefit to splitting shots.
We at Westwood-Mansfield Pediatric Associates strongly support these recommendations and have found that splitting vaccines leads to medical errors and increased patient risk and potentially endangers their child.
Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children are not a good fit for our practice and will be referred elsewhere. Parents who insist on diverging from the recommended vaccine schedule will be asked to sign a waiver stating that they are aware of the potential risks inherent in doing so (including, but not limited to, decreased immunity to potential life-threatening infections), as well as the lack of medical benefit from splitting shots. In addition, the parents will be asked to assume responsibility for receiving the other vaccines in a timely manner. Parents unwilling to sign the waiver will be referred to nearby practices.
We realize that immunizations may be a worrisome subject for many parents and we will be happy to provide you with literature and web-sites on the subject, as well as to answer any and all questions you may have.
Thank you for entrusting us with the care of your children.
Westwood-Mansfield Pediatric Associates
Proactive in Your Child’s Care!
(for more information: http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/iso/concerns/multiplevaccines.htm)