Most of us probably don't remember it, but the first 5 years of our lives were filled with regularly scheduled trips to the doctor's office.   Childhood immunizations were done without question in "our day" but today is much different. A lot of parents are questioning whether those vaccines could actually hurt the children they are intended to protect.  We talk to a Sioux Falls Pediatrician who says if you don't trust the government who insists it's far riskier to skip the shots... trust your doctor.

You can't open a magazine these days without reading something about the controversial debate over vaccinations and autism. actress Jenny McCarthy is leading the charge encouraging all of you not to immunize your child because it causes autism. Main McGreevy Clinic Avera Pediatrician Dr. Kara Bruning says that's very dangerous advice. Advice, she says, you shouldn't take from people in Hollywood.

Dr. Bruning says, "Even just to Google vaccine you see a lot of bad info on them. Talk to your doctor find the good websites, the good information rather than listen to people who don't have any medical background."

One of the ingredients in question is thimerosal. A preservative with trace amounts of mercury that was used to prevent bacteria and fungus from growing in those vaccines before they're used.

Dr. Bruning says, "Even though it was proven that thimerasol didn't cause autism, they took it out of all vaccines anyway because of concerns. It's only still present in the influenza vaccine and that's only given to adults not to babies."

But what about the connection between vaccines and the growing rate of autism in this country? Now 1 in 150 children are affected by it.

Dr. Bruning says, "The problem is a report that came out in 1986 that looked at 12 children who got autism because of thimerasol. If you go back and look 10 of the 12 authors recanted. It was a bad study. They didn't get enough information. And yet that misinformation is still out there."

And information, the RIGHT information, is what Dr. Kara Bruning wants you to be armed with.. when it's time for your kids to bare their arms.

She says, "Measles, still out there. Rubella is still out there.  Mumps is still out there. If you watch the news you see in the last few years people are coming down with these diseases. Chicken pox is still a disease that can kill you. And all those are vaccine preventable illnesses. There are risks associated with vaccines but there are risks associated with getting into the car. There's risks associated with everything, but it's far riskier if you don't vaccinate your child."

South Dakota Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention