Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of ID Care and of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, recently weighed in on ABC News and MSN about the national discussion around the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) updated childhood immunization schedule and what it means for families and clinicians. The CDC recently revised it’s recommended schedule, reducing the number of vaccines universally advised for all children (based on the example of Denmark’s schedule) and emphasizing shared clinical decision-making between parents and healthcare providers. The updates have sparked widespread conversation – and objection – among pediatricians, infectious disease experts and public health professionals.
“Making these changes amid ongoing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases shows a disregard for the real confusion families already face,” Dr. Nahass said. “Disease prevalence differs country to country, and there has been demonstrated and ongoing need in the U.S. for the vaccines included in the childhood vaccine schedule. Most other high-income countries have universal health care and parental leave, both of which can support prevention and early care and contribute to lower disease prevalence.”