The anti-vaccines Not only do they reject the administration of vaccines that protect children from diseases that cause death, but most they also oppose the injection of vitamin K in newborns, which is routinely administered to prevent very dangerous internal bleeding.
He vitamin K deficiency hemorrhage syndrome Hemorrhagic disease of the newborn is a rare but very serious condition that can occur in babies in the first hours or weeks of life. It is characterized by a sacred in the intestines or in the brain that can cause brain damage or even death.
Why does vitamin K deficiency syndrome occur?
Vitamin K is known as the coagulation vitamin, as it is necessary for normal blood clotting. The bacteria in the intestines produce much of the vitamin K that the body needs.
But in the case of babies, with a digestive system still immature, this production is not enough. Although the mother has received this vitamin in her diet, the amount that passes through breast milk is not enough, so is reinforced at birth with an intramuscular injection of vitamin K.
How is vitamin K given in newborns?
The most widespread way to administer it is a single intramuscular dose. That is, just after birth, an injection welcomes the baby into the world (tetanalgesia or breastfeeding the baby is ideal for these first interventions). It is going out into the world and taking a flat tire. Of course, it is not a dish of taste for anyone, but the consequences can be so serious that we do it for the good of the baby.
It can also be administered orally, but the truth is that there are few times in which parents are consulted which form of administration they prefer. By oral route, 3 different doses should be given on different days, which can lead to forgetfulness or that the baby vomits part of the vitamins. Hence the preferred way to administer it is the injection.
Why are the anti-vaccines against?
Since 1961, vitamin K is routinely administered to all newborns in the United States, but in recent years, specifically in 2013 at the Vanderbilt University Pediatric Hospital in Tennessee, they have observed that among children who do not had been vaccinated there have been seven cases of vitamin K deficiency in a period of 8 months. In 5 of the cases the babies suffered gastrointestinal or cerebral hemorrhages.
This trend extended reaching 28% of parents who refused vitamin K injection in private maternity centers near Vanderbilt. This trend also extended to other parts of the country such as Ohio, where fortunately they were able to stop brain hemorrhage in a 10-week-old baby in time before it became serious.
It could be thought that parents refuse to prick, that although it is not pleasant, as in vaccines, there is no other effective way to do it. But it's not just that, anti-vaccines mistakenly believe that vitamin K is dangerous.
Between 1990 and 1992 two studies appeared (both directed by the same person) that suggested a possible association between vitamin K injections in newborns and the development of leukemia and other forms of childhood cancer.
However, two large retrospective studies subsequently conducted in the US and Sweden who reviewed the medical records of 54,000 and 1.3 million children, respectively, they found no evidence of a relationship between childhood cancer and vitamin K injections at birth.
In addition, a pooled analysis of six case and control studies, including 2,431 children diagnosed with childhood cancer and 6,338 cancer-free children, found no evidence that vitamin K injections in newborns increased the risk of childhood leukemia.
In light of the studies, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended continuing routine prophylaxis with vitamin K in newborns because vitamin K deficiency bleeding syndrome is life-threatening and Cancer risks are unlikely and have not been proven.
Doctors are blunt in this matter, as they are in the case of vaccines. According to Dr. Robert Sidonio Jr., a hematologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University, in Atlanta, "If you refuse to give the injection, you are jeopardizing your child's health."
The incidence is very low, but it can happen
The truth is that vitamin K deficiency hemorrhage syndrome has a very low incidence in the population. It occurs with an approximate incidence of 0.25% to 1.7%. But remember that he also had diphtheria, a disease that disappeared 28 years ago and has returned to take the life of a 6-year-old boy who had not received the vaccine.
Once again, Lack of information can lead parents to decide not to administer vitamin K injection in the newborn to prevent SDVK, a potentially fatal and easily preventable complication.
