What are the risks from immunization?
It’s no fun to have your baby stuck with a needle, but the pain quickly fades, while the protection can last a lifetime. A few children suffer side effects, most commonly soreness at the injection site or fever — both treatable with acetaminophen. (Don’t use aspirin for children and teenagers because of the risk of Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening disorder.) A small number of children are susceptible to febrile seizures when their temperature gets very high, but the seizure usually passes in 60 seconds and rarely causes harm. Since 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children receive the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), given as injections, and not the oral polio vaccine, which contains a weakened but live virus. Some cases, however, may definitely call for a live vaccine — for example, if a family plans to travel to a country where a wild type of poliovirus still thrives. Controversy has also arisen regarding the pertussis or whoopin
