Mother shares story of risk from childhood immunizations


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SALT LAKE CITY — Parents want to do everything they can to keep kids safe and healthy, and usually that includes getting a child immunized. But one mom is sharing the story of how she believes vaccines changed her son's life.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children get 16 vaccines by the time they're a year and a half old. That's what Katelyn Shaw did with her 18-month-old son Jackson. But two weeks later, he was in Primary Children's Hospital.

Shaw believes the vaccines caused Jackson to get sick, but doctors could never confirm that suspicion. She said she did her own research and found the stories of many children who had severe reactions after being vaccinated. Jackson couldn't talk anymore.

"He stopped saying the words that he had been saying," Shaw said. "His first word was Papa, that's what he called my dad, and to this day he can't say it."

After testing him, they found he'd developed severe allergies to dairy, soy, peanuts, animals, and several chemicals.

Dr. Bill Cosgrove is an advocate for childhood vaccinations and said germs are everywhere. He said vaccinations save lives.

However, Cosgrove admitted that any time a foreign protein is injected into the body, there is a chance of side effects. World Health Organization studies show that chance is very low and that "most vaccine reactions are usually minor and temporary."

Shaw said she knows vaccines can do a lot of good, but she feels pediatricians need to educate families about what could happen.

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