The president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians breaks down what every parent and adult needs to know about vaccines, the MMR debate, and protecting your community.
Dr. Kisha Davis has spent her career at the intersection of medicine, public health and policy. She is the president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which represents more than 128,000 physicians and medical students nationwide, and serves as the chief health officer for Montgomery County, Maryland. She has advised Congress on Medicaid policy, worked as a White House Fellow at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and teaches at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She sat down with Rolling Out Health IQ to talk about vaccines, misinformation, and what family physicians wish more patients understood.
When we talk about vaccines being our best defense against preventable diseases, what does that mean for everyday people?
Vaccines are like wearing your seatbelt. You don’t know when you might encounter a virus or infection, and they give you that added layer of protection. We put on our seatbelt every time we get in the car, and we don’t get into an accident every time. But we still know that seatbelt offers protection, because we don’t know when that accident might happen. Same thing with vaccines.
The MMR vaccine has been at the center of a lot of public debate. What do you want people to understand about its safety and effectiveness?
The MMR vaccine has been around for decades. Measles is also not new. A lot of people have forgotten what it’s like to experience it. As a physician, I haven’t seen a case of measles in my practice, because most people these days have gotten vaccinated.
Measles is very contagious. It causes fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat and ultimately a rash that starts on the face and works its way down the body. In its rare forms, it can cause pneumonia, meningitis, hearing loss and death. Sometimes people say it’s only sick kids who will have that reaction. We know that healthy kids can still get those most severe reactions.
The MMR is given between 1 and 2 years old, and again between 4 and 5. Having two shots provides 97% protection against measles. The vaccine doesn’t just protect the individual. For measles, because it’s so contagious, we need about 95% of the people in a group to be vaccinated. There are some people who can’t get the vaccine, so it’s not just individual protection. It’s also a really great community protection.
You’ve compared vaccination to wearing a seatbelt and managing blood pressure. Why does that framing matter?
Unlike remembering to put your seatbelt on every day or take a blood pressure pill, a vaccine is something you can do just once or twice. It’s kind of like a set-it-and-forget-it protection. You make that investment early on and it has really lifelong protection. Even adults who got two vaccines as kids, when we test their antibodies, they still have protection. Something that you did as a kid that is still protecting you into your 40s, 50s and 60s is a great advancement in science.
Some people feel that if vaccines don’t eliminate risk entirely, why bother?
Why should I even bother to wear a seatbelt? Because you don’t know when that accident is going to come. While I might say, if I get measles it’s not that big a risk to me, what about a sick grandmother living in the house, or a teacher who might be immunocompromised and have medical conditions I don’t know about? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I want emergency rooms to be for the things that emergency rooms are for. If we can take care of the things that are preventable, the vaccine-preventable illnesses, the heart attacks we can stop by taking blood pressure medication, that helps all of us.
Is there a misconception that vaccines are only something you need to worry about when your kids are young?
Vaccines exist for every age and stage now. Shingles is one we recommend at age 50, because the risk increases much greater over that age. The pneumonia vaccine is timed for seniors, who are much more at risk of complications. RSV is another one we give to older folks, because the risk is greatest in our elderly and in our newborns. The timing of vaccines comes with specific thought about when someone is most at risk and when they need that extra protection.
Which routine vaccines do you recommend heading into respiratory virus season?
Respiratory virus season runs from about the beginning of October to the end of March. The main ones we have vaccines for are influenza, COVID and RSV. Everybody should be getting a flu shot every year, 6 months and above. For COVID, we encourage everyone 6 months and above to get it. Both are updated yearly. Even when it’s just a so-so match, like this year, there’s still benefit in decreasing rates of hospitalization and death.
For RSV, it’s recommended for adults over 65, and between ages 50 and 65 for those with chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, hypertension or heart disease. It’s also recommended for newborns and pregnant women due to deliver during respiratory virus season.
What do you say to a patient who comes in with doubts about vaccines?
Most people just want to do what’s best for their child. When I say, tell me what you’re worried about, what can I help clarify, most of the time folks want to get that vaccine because they want to do what’s best for their kid. Your family physician, the doctor who knows you and your family in the context of your community, is the best person to have that conversation with. These vaccines have been around for generations. They are safe, effective, and really do make a difference.
What role do family doctors play in keeping vaccination rates where they need to be?
Family physicians see everybody, from birth to death and everything in between. Prevention is so key. We are trained to treat flu and COVID, but we would love for our patients to not have to experience them. Vaccines are a huge part of what helps keep my patients healthy, in the same way that a healthy diet, exercise and sleep also have such a huge role to play.
For parents navigating conflicting information online, what is your most important piece of advice?
Make sure you’re looking at reputable sources. I’ll put a plug in for familydoctor.org. It’s trusted and verified by family physicians. If you’ve done your research and some of it conflicts, bring it into your family doctor and let’s have a conversation.
What AI is good for is giving you a general overview of a topic. It’s not great at applying that to you specifically, and I would discourage people from putting personal health information into AI chatbots that are not HIPAA protected. Look for sources with .org or .edu at the end, and major research institutions like Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins that are scientifically sound and evidence-based.
What is the one thing you want everyone to walk away knowing about vaccines and preventive healthcare?
The MMR vaccine is safe. It does so much good to help protect you, your child and your family. More broadly, have a conversation about your health with your family physician. Bring these questions to your doctor, but also ask what you should be doing for your general health to stay healthy. Your doctor wants to talk to you about it. Come on in and see us.