This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Did you know that when your pediatrician asks if you want to vaccinate your child, he or she is probably offering to lose money? In fact, my clinic loses $100 for every vaccine we give.

So why is your pediatrician offering to help pay for your child to get a shot? It's because vaccines have saved more lives than all of the deaths in the wars of the 20th century combined! Vaccinating your children can eliminate the chances of seeing them in the hospital because of a measles outbreak, for example.

Vaccines are also incredibly safe; safer than antibiotics and ibuprofen. Vaccines don't cause autism. How do we know? We've seen their effects on hundreds of millions of people around the world, and we continue to study them. Here are some things that are more likely than vaccines to seriously harm your child: a car collision, your gun, your e-cigarette refill, your doTERRA oil, a pool, a falling television, a bolt of lightning, a shark and not being fully vaccinated.

Learn more for yourself by going to credible sources that cite scientific studies, like vaccines.com, vaccines.gov, cdc.gov/vaccines, or your doctor. Remember, these aren't opinions; they're facts!

Ryan Hassan, M.D., MPH

Salt Lake City