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KUSA - During 9NEWS 6 a.m.
we featured a web exclusive with a vaccine expert from the Colorado
Infant Immunization Program about immunization basics, including the
ongoing controversy about whether certain childhood vaccines cause
austism.

9NEWS Multimedia Journalist Randy Barber spoke with Margaret Huffman, RN of the Colorado Immunization Program.

She supplied us with this background from the Centers For Disease Control:

The issue of whether vaccines cause autism, addressed in the release
and on this CDC page, is of particular interest to parents since they
are still hearing from certain celebrities that vaccines do cause
autism. Scientists have been unanimous in rejecting this assertion.

There still are some parents who don't vaccinate their children due
to fears of adverse events, such as autism. Numerous studies of
millions of children in several countries, including the United States,
have demonstrated there is no connection between vaccines and autism.

Parents should know that the benefits of avoiding potentially fatal
vaccine preventable diseases far outweigh potential adverse affects.

A recent Feb. 12 New York Times editorial made the same point: A
special federal vaccine court issued three devastating verdicts that
should help demolish lingering fears that childhood vaccines can and
have caused autism.

While immunization rates are improving in Colorado, recent cases of
vaccine preventable diseases around the country do concern health
officials. In Minnesota this year, there have been five childhood cases
of Hib, Haemophilus influenza type b.

Of those, three of the children were not vaccinated against the
disease and one died. Four Colorado children died from complications of
influenza during the current flu season that is just now wrapping up.
Flu is another vaccine-preventable illness.

Finally, a 2008 measles outbreak in San Diego associated with lack
of immunization sickened 11 children. An analysis of Colorado
statistics indicates that poor children are most likely not fully
vaccinated.

Nationally, more than one million children are not adequately
immunized, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on the
care of disease-stricken children whose illnesses could have been
avoided through immunizations.

Between 1996 and 2005, 208 adults and 32 children in Colorado died
of diseases that most likely could have been prevented by vaccinations.
In 2005, the following vaccine-preventable diseases were reported among
children from birth through 19 years of age:

· 901 cases of whooping cough (pertussis)
· 249 influenza-related hospitalizations
· 71 cases of invasive Streptococcus Pneumonia
· 12 cases of invasive meningococcal disease

Huffman also answered questions about swine flu and offered up these links for anyone with questions:

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/recommendations.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidelines_infection_control.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/clinician_pregnant.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/specimencollection.htm