Myths and Facts About Vaccinations

Getting vaccinated is an efficient way to protect your body against harmful diseases before you come into contact with them. Vaccines build up your body’s natural defenses in order to strengthen your immune system and provide resistance to specific infections. 

Vaccines contain a dead or weakened version of a certain disease and are provided through an injection. Your body recognizes the infection and then makes antibodies to defend you, should you ever come into contact with the real thing.

These powerful medical tools have led to significant increase in health worldwide by reducing the transmission of disease, permanent disability, and infant mortality. However, a lot of misconceptions still surround vaccines.

Our team, led by family medicine specialist Sebastian Joseph, MD, at Seby Medical Center offers a wide range of vaccines for the benefit of your health. In this blog, we debunk some common myths about vaccines.

Myth 1: Vaccines contain harmful ingredients

While some vaccines carry a scary list of ingredients such as mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde, these substances can actually already be found naturally in your body, in the food you eat, and in your surrounding environment. 

Plus, the “dangerous” ingredients in vaccines are found in much lower doses than you would experience in your day-to-day life, meaning vaccines are entirely safe to inject into your body.

Myth 2: Natural immunity is better

Natural immunity is still a great way to fight off infection. When your body encounters a serious disease itself, your body produces antibodies and creates immunity that lasts much longer than what a vaccine could give you.

However, the risks for natural immunity far outweigh the benefits of it. If you develop an infection, you could end up with serious symptoms that permanently affect your health and even risk your life.

Myth 3: Vaccines cause harmful conditions

A large misconception about vaccines is that they can lead to dangerous health conditions such as autism or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). There has only been one study that tried to link autism to vaccines, and it was quickly discredited. There has also been absolutely no scientific evidence to connect vaccines to SIDS. 

Myth 4: Some vaccines are outdated and no longer needed

While diseases like measles and polio are now rare in the United States thanks to vaccinations, the conditions still exist in other parts of the world. When people travel internationally, it’s easy for these diseases to be brought back. If you’re not vaccinated against these health conditions, you and others who are unprotected can easily become infected, leading to a health crisis. 

If you’re not up-to-date on your vaccinations, we highly encourage you to update them sooner rather than later. To schedule an appointment, call your nearest office location or book online. We proudly serve the Downers Grove and Chicago, Illinois, areas.