American Academy of Pediatrics - Vermont Chapter

In the 40 years since Dr. Louis DiNicola has been involved in pediatric medicine, he has seen many diseases essentially eliminated by vaccinations.  He believes that they are well researched, safe and effective.  He also believes that immunizations are an important public health issue. Society has a history of protecting children through laws. Examples include requiring car seats and seat belts, not allowing 10-year olds to work in factories and requiring smokers and drinkers to be of a certain age.  To Dr. DiNicola, vaccinations are as, if not more, important.

Mahala’s teenage son Ethan has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder.  As a result, he can’t receive most immunizations, leaving him extremely susceptible to certain diseases that immunizations normally protect against.  Being exposed to children who have not had their immunizations is a major health threat for Ethan, and a constant source of fear for Mahala.

Dr. Elizabeth Hunt is a pediatrician who cares deeply for the children and families she treats.  She believes with all her heart, as well as through her education, training and experience, that vaccines are one of the most important things we can do to keep our children healthy and happy.  She not only recommends immunizations for her patients, but she makes sure her own children are fully immunized.

Louisa was born with a condition that makes her more susceptible to catching certain diseases, and makes the possibility of her suffering especially bad cases of those diseases even greater.  Her parents, Ethan and Elizabeth, share their worries and the reasons why they hope other parents strongly consider immunizations.

Teresa is a survivor. As an 18-month old she was stricken with Haemophilus influenzae type B-caused epiglottitis and her family was told to prepare for her death. Fortunately, she lived and the disease is today vaccine preventable.  Teresa shares her family’s experience with nearly losing a child and encourages other families to avoid the extraordinary fear and pain they felt by having their children immunized.

As a medical student Dr. Valerie Rooney spent night after night doing spinal taps on children suffering from meningitis and informing parents that their children had a disease that causes retardation, deafness, seizures and could possibly lead to death.  Vaccines have dramatically reduced the number of children suffering from this and other horrible diseases … and Dr. Rooney doesn’t want to see us go back to those days.