The Miss America winner was reputed to have become permanently deaf because of a bad DTP vaccine, but this story was totally false. Her deafness actually occurred after she contracted bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a bacterium for which a vaccine has since become available. Fortunately, the Hib vaccine has virtually eliminated Hib meningitis and its resulting deafness. 

You can read more about vaccines and vaccine myths in my book God’s Design for the Highly Healthy Child.

One researcher claimed that infants immunized with one dose of Hib vaccine at twenty-four months of age were less likely to get diabetes than if they received four doses of the Hib vaccine (at three, four, six, and eighteen months of age). He concluded that the risk of diabetes could be reduced if children did not receive vaccines at a young age. 

After carefully reviewing the data, researchers discovered that analytic methods used in the study were incorrect.

Natural infection with certain viruses can weaken the immune system. So when children are infected with one virus, they can’t fight off other viruses or bacteria as easily. 

This happens most notably during natural infection with chicken pox or measles. Children infected with chicken pox are susceptible to certain bacterial infections (MRSA or flesh-eating bacteria, for example). 

Children infected with measles are more susceptible to bacterial infections (resulting in sepsis) of the bloodstream. 

But vaccines are different.

It is true that natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccination. In fact, only the Hib and tetanus vaccines are better at inducing immunity than natural infection.

Natural infection causes immunity after just one infection, but vaccines usually create immunity only after several doses over a period of time.

The Myth - Infants are too young to get vaccinated.

The Truth - It’s very important to make sure that infants are fully immunized against certain diseases by the age of six months.

This is the second entry in a series from my book God’s Design for the Highly Healthy Child.

Probably the best recent example of the positive impact of vaccines is the Hib vaccine, which prevents meningitis, ear infections, and other serious infections caused by the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib).

When the current Hib vaccine was introduced to this country in 1990, Hib was the most common cause of bacterial meningitis.

For decades, Hib had caused approximately 15,000 cases of meningitis and 400 to 500 deaths every year. After the current Hib vaccine was introduced, the incidence of Hib meningitis declined to fewer than fifty cases per year—typical of all widely used vaccines.