Vaccines don’t overwhelm children. But dangerous diseases can.

Parents want to do what’s best for their children, but determining what’s best isn’t easy. The amount of information – and misinformation – can feel overwhelming. Families need clear answers from trusted sources.

A common myth vs. the truth

Let’s look at one of the most common misconceptions about vaccines: that they can “overwhelm” a baby’s immune system. That to protect them we should give fewer vaccines, give only one at a time or wait until a baby is older.

What scientific evidence shows, and what our Children’s Minnesota kid experts see every day, is clear: Vaccines do not overwhelm a healthy baby’s immune system.

This is because an infant’s immune system is not fragile. It is just inexperienced. Vaccines are designed to help the immune system learn to recognize a threat before encountering the challenge of the actual infection.

A dress rehearsal for the immune system

The viruses and bacteria that threaten children are all different, so the way we protect against them varies. But the basic principle is the same.

Think of each vaccine as a dress rehearsal. The vaccine shows a child’s immune system a small component of a virus or bacteria particle, just enough to recognize it later. It sends in this isolated antigen that, on its own, cannot cause infection. But the antigen does cause the immune system to take notice.

The immune system recognizes the vaccine antigen as something foreign and activates defenses, building both strength and memory to prepare the child’s body. Then, when the child is exposed to the virus or bacteria itself, their immune system already knows how to fight it.

The risk of being unprotected

But if that child is unvaccinated, their immune system can be caught flat-footed, unable to mount a response in time to prevent infection. During an infection, the virus or bacteria multiplies rapidly, presenting a storm of antigens, drawing the child’s immune system into an all-out battle. By comparison, an immunization exposes the child to a carefully controlled training session, activating a tiny fraction of their immune capability, just enough to build protection.

Several preventable childhood diseases circulate in our communities regularly. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is one example. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the U.S., as many as 80,000 children under 5 are hospitalized with RSV every year. Of those children, as many as 500 may die from it.

But not if we help prepare their immune system before that exposure happens.

Research published by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that RSV vaccination dramatically reduces hospitalization. Immunizing infants reduced RSV-related hospitalizations in those children by 77%. Immunizing mothers during pregnancy reduced hospitalizations in those newborns by 82%.

Misinformation puts children at risk

Recently, we have seen proven, evidence-based vaccine recommendations become discredited and politicized. The impact is real. Children and families suffer; we see it firsthand at Children’s Minnesota.

Every winter, we care for babies with RSV infections who are struggling to breathe. Babies who need respiratory support, oxygen tubing and IV lines, or worse: ventilators, central lines and critical care. Families endure the fear and uncertainty that come with watching a child become critically ill from an infection that may have been prevented with immunization.

We know a child can handle vaccines. They can handle multiple vaccines. They can handle them together, and they can handle them when they are young.

What children cannot always handle are the infections those vaccines prevent.

Vaccines give children something invaluable: the opportunity to practice before the test arrives.

Our job is to make sure they have that opportunity. Our job is to protect them.