In this deeply moving episode, I had the honor of sitting down with Serese Marotta, Deputy CEO of Vaccinate Your Family, to discuss the critical importance of protecting our children as we head into respiratory illness seasons. Serese bravely opened up about her own personal tragedy, losing her healthy, five-year-old son, Joseph to H1N1 influence. 

Hearing Serese’s story is a powerful reminder of why we do this work and why evidence-based education is so vital. We dove into real-world barriers families face, why even healthy children need protection against preventable illnesses, and how system-wide burnout in medicine can sometimes drive parents away from trusted doctors. 

We discuss:

• How physician burnout inadvertently fuels vaccine hesitancy

• The reality of flu severity in healthy children

• Vaccinate Your Family’s mission to improve vaccine access and education

• Dr. Mona’s personal experience with vaccine anxiety as a pediatrician and mom

• Common flu shot myths and safety misconceptions

• The role of social responsibility and herd immunity in protecting kids

Connect with Serese Marotta on Instagram @vaccinateyourfamily and through  ⁠vaccinateyourfamily.org⁠

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00;00;00;00 – 00;00;32;02

Serese Marotta

We have vaccines for a reason. The fact that we have vaccines available to us, you know, this is not my phrase, but it’s why I’m here so often is like vaccines are a victim of their own success. We don’t normally see these diseases anymore. Of course, right now flu continues to be a problem. I mean, right now we are continuing to see pediatric flu deaths each and every year since 2004 when we started recording pediatrics, whereas over 2700 children have lost, lost their lives to flu.

 

00;00;32;10 – 00;00;57;08

Serese Marotta

That’s an enormous number. But vaccines are a way that we can lead healthy, long, productive lives. Think of it just like anything else. We go to sleep, we get enough sleep. We eat well, we exercise, we do all of the things that we know our best to help protect ourselves, protect our families. Think about vaccines is just another way to stay healthy.

 

00;00;57;08 – 00;01;09;05

Serese Marotta

And I hope parents really feel empowered, to make vaccines a priority. This respiratory season.

 

00;01;09;08 – 00;01;25;03

Dr. Mona

Welcome back to the show. It is Doctor Mona, your host of the PedsDocTalk podcast. And if you are new here, welcome. You are going to love it here. This is where we talk all things parenting, child health, development and things about you as the caregiver. I really believe in the whole family unit when it comes to parenting.

 

00;01;25;06 – 00;01;49;05

Dr. Mona

And remember to download all of your favorite episodes. Downloading and especially subscribing to the channel really helps us show continue to grow. Have you ever wondered why pediatricians can sound so calm about regular childhood illnesses, but so firm about vaccines? Have you wondered why we vaccinate our own children? Have you wondered why we push back so much about vaccine misinformation?

 

00;01;49;07 – 00;02;10;11

Dr. Mona

Here is where I stand, and I want to say it very plainly. In case you are not familiar with my stance on vaccines, I have been a pediatrician for 11 years at the time of this recording. 14 if you count residency, where we do go through intensive training and over that time you start to see patterns, you see which illnesses are vaccine preventable and which are not.

 

00;02;10;14 – 00;02;34;07

Dr. Mona

You listen to the stories from your mentors who were around during other viruses and other bacteria when other vaccines were created, and how they are happy that they no longer have to see those very deadly or concerning illnesses. You see again and again whether the benefits of a vaccine outweigh the risks that pattern is exactly why I support vaccines.

 

00;02;34;09 – 00;03;09;16

Dr. Mona

The reason I care so much about this topic is because I’ve seen the data, but even more so than data. I have had clinical experience to see the impact vaccines can have in a positive way. Healthy kids die from vaccine preventable illnesses. Is that the norm? Absolutely not. I am not here to fear monger and say your kid’s going to die if they don’t get the vaccine, but if something exists that can lower the risk of death and hospitalization and it comes with a low risk profile, I’m going to recommend it every time that math is not close for me.

 

00;03;09;19 – 00;03;40;20

Dr. Mona

Today’s guest is Teresa murata, deputy chief executive officer of Vaccinate Your Family, bringing more than 25 years of experience in science, public health, immunization policy and patient advocacy. But her work is also deeply personal. After losing her five year old son Joseph, to influenza during the 2009 H1n1 pandemic, she has spent her career supporting families affected by vaccine preventable diseases and raising awareness about the life saving power of vaccines.

 

00;03;40;22 – 00;04;01;16

Dr. Mona

This episode airs in honor of National Immunization Month and in honor of Joseph, we are talking about respiratory illness, season prevention and what it really means to turn grief into advocacy. If you have ever felt scared or unsure about a vaccine decision for your child, or if you have lost someone to something that could have been prevented, you are not alone.

 

00;04;01;19 – 00;04;25;18

Dr. Mona

This conversation is heavy in places and it’s also extremely full of purpose. So please go download the full episode wherever you get your podcast, share it on social media and make sure to tag the PedsDocTalk podcast, PedsDocTalk and vaccinate your family when you do. Our goal is for more people to hear the real stories out there.

 

00;04;25;23 – 00;04;50;29

Dr. Mona

To understand why pediatricians and vaccine advocates care so much about vaccinations, and why your kids get them. Because if we can prevent one less death, if we can prevent one less hospitalization, we are doing our job and we want that for everyone. Let’s get into this amazing conversation.

 

00;04;51;01 – 00;04;56;00

Dr. Mona

Thank you so much for taking your time out of your busy day service to be with me here today.

 

00;04;56;03 – 00;04;59;22

Serese Marotta

Well, thank you for having me, Mona. I’m very happy to be here with you.

 

00;04;59;24 – 00;05;16;26

Dr. Mona

You know, I before we started the conversation, I just told you off off the recording, and I want to repeat it here. How grateful I am for you to take time today. And also how grateful I am for you to turn something that was probably one of the hardest moments of your life. And turn it into advocacy.

 

00;05;16;29 – 00;05;36;17

Dr. Mona

I am so grateful to have this podcast. I have had mothers from all walks of life come on my show. I’ve had mothers who’ve lost their children to drowning, to other preventable diseases or other preventable conditions. And to be able to turn that grief into advocacy is one of the most powerful things that we can do.

 

00;05;36;25 – 00;05;46;26

Dr. Mona

And I just want to, off the bat, just thank you for being here today. And just educating our listeners and just in this warm, relatable light that we’re going to be talking today.

 

00;05;46;29 – 00;05;54;18

Serese Marotta

Thank you. I agree wholeheartedly. We need to tell our stories to to help hopefully prevent other folks from having stories like ours.

 

00;05;54;19 – 00;06;12;05

Dr. Mona

So yeah, and we’re talking today about respiratory season and prevention. You know, this episode is debuting right before we get into the the the nitty gritty and the big, you know, the big session of, viral season, as we like to call it. But before I get into that, I want listeners to understand why this work is so meaningful to you.

 

00;06;12;05 – 00;06;29;14

Dr. Mona

So as I shared in the introduction, you share that you lost your son Joseph to influenza during the H1n1 pandemic. And if you feel comfortable sharing, can you tell us about Joseph and how that experience shaped your decision to become involved in vaccine education, advocacy and vaccine your family?

 

00;06;29;16 – 00;06;51;12

Serese Marotta

Yeah. Thanks, Mona. I love to talk about Joseph. So Joseph, was my second child. He was five years old. So this was back in 2009. He was attending kindergarten, and he was simply a joy. We used to, you know, say he was a little old man in this little kids body because he was smart. He was funny, he was sassy.

 

00;06;51;12 – 00;07;16;15

Serese Marotta

He was all of the things, very typical five year old boy, also like Spiderman and Transformers. And he loved puzzles. Woke me up every morning at 6 a.m., mommy was go to a puzzle play a board game. So his story, you know, kind of started pretty innocently. He threw up on the school bus. This was September 2009.

 

00;07;16;17 – 00;07;34;11

Serese Marotta

He ended up in urgent care. They diagnosed him with flu. He ended up in the hospital. And at the time, we were living in Ohio, you know, and when your second child, you know, you have two kids, you know, like I got this, you know, so I was kind of over that hump of what I would say, being a nervous mom.

 

00;07;34;11 – 00;07;55;19

Serese Marotta

But of course, my child’s in the hospital. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. And it was serious. But never in a million years would I have thought that I would be leaving that hospital without him. He was, healthy in every way. I will say that he was a healthy child. So many people think, oh, gosh, your child died.

 

00;07;55;21 – 00;08;20;19

Serese Marotta

He must have had some preexisting condition. He did not. Joseph was perfectly healthy five year old boy. He was in the hospital. They were treating him for pneumonia. Found out he had H1n1 flu. And this was during the H1n1 pandemic, probably about midway through his hospital stay. And I will say I am a protective parent. I’m a I was a scientist for many, many years.

 

00;08;20;19 – 00;08;40;23

Serese Marotta

So, you know, there’s me in Joseph’s hospital room with the, you know, checking as they’re coming in and doing their charting and saying, okay, what are you giving him now? Okay. What are we doing? But again, thinking, like we’re going to go home. He was in the ICU. He was downgraded to the regular floor. He was improving, for all you know.

 

00;08;40;26 – 00;09;06;10

Serese Marotta

All the doctors kept coming in, and this looks good. And that looks good. On the ninth day of his hospital stay. I remember my husband and I were kind of switching out because of flu season. My our daughter, who was seven at the time, couldn’t be up there with us. And I remember, you know, coming back, I had taken my daughter to dinner and I was in the hospital lobby, and my my husband says, you got to come up here.

 

00;09;06;10 – 00;09;36;18

Serese Marotta

Something’s going on. And Joseph’s blood pressure had plummeted. So we ended up back in the ICU. And again, you know, maybe it’s my mommy brain, but you’re thinking like we’re in a children’s hospital. We don’t know what’s happening, but he’s getting the best care possible, and we’re going to go home. So that evening, they were, you know, he we were back in the ICU trying to figure things out again, thinking he was relatively stable, although things were happening.

 

00;09;36;20 – 00;10;02;17

Serese Marotta

My husband goes home with our daughter that morning. I was, you know, talking to the doctors are coming in and out. And I was standing next to Joseph’s hospital bed, and Halloween was coming up because it was October 18th. It was a Sunday. And we were talking about Halloween costumes. Yeah. And he really liked Star Wars. And he’s like, I don’t know if I want to be a stormtrooper or you know, having that conversation.

 

00;10;02;20 – 00;10;23;08

Serese Marotta

And suddenly he coded right in front of me. And I don’t know, I’m protecting myself by saying it looked like the air show. You know, everybody kind of rushes in. And still I was standing in the hallway thinking, the doctors and nurses are going to fix this. Yeah, they didn’t fix it. They ended up calling me back into the room.

 

00;10;23;10 – 00;10;52;05

Serese Marotta

My husband shows up in the middle of this mayhem, and, they were doing chest compressions on Joseph. And I remember at one point I left the room because it was just so traumatic. And the, the attending physician came in. I was in the room next door, and the attendant came in, and she was just bawling. And I remember her standing in the doorway, and I just looked at her and I said, the only thing I could think to say was, did he die?

 

00;10;52;05 – 00;11;15;12

Serese Marotta

And she said, I need you to come in here. And I walked into the room with my husband behind me, and Joseph was naked. There was a nurse doing chest compressions. And I remember the doctor. She looked at me and she said, I need you to talk to him. And I think at that moment, what must have been going through her mind was modern medicine is not saving this child.

 

00;11;15;15 – 00;11;35;27

Serese Marotta

And I need his mom to talk to him. And I remember standing there and it had been about 30, 35 minutes. They had been working on him at that point in time. And I held his hand. You know, he’s unconscious. They’re doing chest compressions. They’re pushing epi. You know, I’m listening to all of the things.

 

00;11;36;00 – 00;11;57;06

Serese Marotta

And I just remember the doctor stopping and turning to me and saying, I’m so sorry. And we stood in that room and of course, you’re in shock. Never in a million years did I think this would happen. But, afterwards we were in the hospital room holding Joseph, and she said to me, you know, he’s the 85th child to die from flu this year.

 

00;11;57;09 – 00;12;20;24

Serese Marotta

Yeah. You know, and I felt like I’m a pretty educated parent. I do all of the things to protect my kids. And I looked to her and I said, kids don’t die from flu. What are you talking about? Little did I know. I have no idea. So losing Joseph obviously was by far the most signifi can’t. Hardest thing that has happened in my life?

 

00;12;20;27 – 00;12;44;02

Serese Marotta

Probably, I hope will ever happen. Yeah. But the tragedy, I think then compounds because I had to go home and tell a seven year old sister because I, my sibling, his best friend, that her little brother wasn’t coming home. So it was really tough. And I think, you know, there’s so many parents like me who unfortunately have lost a child to a vaccine preventable disease.

 

00;12;44;04 – 00;12;54;20

Serese Marotta

And the only thing we can do is raise awareness, share our story, empower people with information. So that hopefully this doesn’t happen to other families.

 

00;12;54;23 – 00;13;19;20

Dr. Mona

You described a scenario that I have seen myself in on the other side as that doctor. You know, I am an outpatient pediatrician, so thankfully being an outpatient pediatrician, I have not had to deal with those intense moments like my pick. You colleagues, you know, my ICU colleagues, my hospital is colleagues, my ER colleagues. But I went through training, you know, and in the training experience we have seen those moments.

 

00;13;19;23 – 00;13;47;24

Dr. Mona

You described it exactly how I’ve, I’ve been there to tell parents the bad news or to tell them, talk to your kid. You know, this is all we have right now and just talk to them. Or if they believe in prayer, pray for them. Whatever it is that we can do beyond modern medicine, like you said, and you know that we’re going to segue into talking about vaccines and this entire experience from hearing you talk about it is also why I’m so pro-science and so pro-health and pro educating on facts, right?

 

00;13;47;24 – 00;14;04;13

Dr. Mona

What can we do to reduce the risk? What can we do to make this that nobody is in your shoes again or reduce that chance? And so I want to thank you again for sharing that story. I know it’s even years out now. It’s been almost 20 years, since that I.

 

00;14;04;14 – 00;14;06;10

Serese Marotta

Yeah, 16.5 years.

 

00;14;06;11 – 00;14;23;01

Dr. Mona

Yeah, I know, I know, it’s still feels fresh. And I just again want to thank you. And my question to you, which again, is just curiosity, did you had you vaccinated your entire family that season or was that something that you guys did but still this happened?

 

00;14;23;04 – 00;14;42;17

Serese Marotta

Yeah. Yeah. So I will say I’ve always been pro-vaccine. I’ve always listened to my pediatrician and, you know, I can remember as a kid myself being vaccinated, you know, and my mom saying how important this was. So Joseph’s story is a little bit unique because it was during the H1n1 pandemic. So he had a seasonal flu vaccine that year.

 

00;14;42;20 – 00;15;08;02

Serese Marotta

I always make sure my kiddos are up to date on the routine immunizations, but what happened is the flu vaccine that year did not offer protection against the pandemic strain of H1n1, which is a strain of influenza A, so unfortunately, he and so many other young folks, children like him didn’t have any protection or very minimal protection.

 

00;15;08;04 – 00;15;29;00

Serese Marotta

So, I did what was right, and I can take comfort in that, even though I lost him. And I know many parents who made a choice not to vaccinate their child and lost their child. And, you know, look, we all are trying to do the best we can. And I think that’s what I always keep in the back of my mind.

 

00;15;29;00 – 00;15;57;25

Serese Marotta

There’s no judgment. We’re here to offering information to empower you. But Joseph did receive, seasonal flu vaccine. He just unfortunately didn’t have protection against that pandemic strain of H1n1. And after Joseph died, this was pretty traumatic for me as well. I was living in Ohio. The monovalent H1n1 vaccine came out during member and in my community came out two weeks after Joseph died.

 

00;15;57;28 – 00;16;24;05

Serese Marotta

And I took my daughter, who was seven years old, to stand in a line at the county health clinic. And that line was so long. And I remember what was so traumatic about it, is that I was standing in this line with my daughter to get her that H1n1 vaccine, and people are talking about Joseph’s death having no idea that I was Joseph’s mom, and it was just, you know, you can’t help but wonder.

 

00;16;24;05 – 00;16;36;27

Serese Marotta

I’m like, if only this vaccine had been available a few weeks prior, I would have gotten Joseph vaccinated. He would have been protected. But unfortunately, that’s not how my story unfolded.

 

00;16;36;29 – 00;16;58;29

Dr. Mona

Thank you. I love already that you mentioned the no judgment, and the and the hard reality that we make as parents to all want to do the best for our children. And in the reality of being a pediatrician, being a mother, I also know exactly what you know is that even when we check all of our boxes, even when we do all the things that we’re told to do, it doesn’t always work out as we’re supposed to.

 

00;16;59;00 – 00;17;24;21

Dr. Mona

And it feels hard. It can feel very, very difficult. And I recognize that. And I want to again, just thank you for that sentiment. And now, you know, this experience has obviously led you to become deeply involved with vaccinate your family. Today, you serve as the deputy CEO. So for listeners who may not be familiar with the organization, can you explain the mission of vaccinate your family and the work your team is doing to support families, public health and education?

 

00;17;24;24 – 00;17;48;06

Serese Marotta

Yeah. Thanks, Mona. I love to talk about our place of work. So Vaccinate Your Family is a national nonprofit organization or 501 C3. We are actually celebrating our 35th anniversary this year, so I’ve been here about five years, but there’s a whole history before me and our work, our mission is to protect people of all ages from vaccine preventable diseases.

 

00;17;48;08 – 00;18;15;17

Serese Marotta

And how we do that is empowerment. We make sure that hopefully people have access to evidence based information about vaccines. They have access to vaccination services because I think, you know, that’s where I think our work is so important because there’s folks who it’s not just about they don’t believe in vaccines and they don’t want vaccines. There are so many things that can interrupt that access.

 

00;18;15;17 – 00;18;49;01

Serese Marotta

Right. Whether it’s convenient, I’ve heard a lot of parents who are like, oh my gosh, I just, I work, I couldn’t take my kids to get their vaccine. Something happened. So for us, it’s really about, centering our work, communication, education, advocacy, community, how do we work with our partners in this space? Again, at the end of the day, our goal is to empower people with information so they can make informed decisions about vaccination for themselves and their families.

 

00;18;49;04 – 00;19;12;28

Serese Marotta

And that’s where the no judgment comes in. Everybody comes from somewhere. They have their own unique lived experiences, their own circumstances. There’s no judgment. I’ve had so many conversations with folks who are like, you know, it’s not that I chose purposely not to get my child vaccinated, but I work and, you know, I can’t find a clinic, I can’t there’s no access for me.

 

00;19;13;01 – 00;19;33;01

Serese Marotta

Those are the people that we’re trying to connect the dots for, you know, what is it that you need? What are your concerns? And so much of that is active listening, which I’m sure you do as a, as a provider and a pediatrician, you know, making sure that we listen to what their concerns are, it’s okay to have questions we want to answer those questions.

 

00;19;33;03 – 00;19;56;13

Dr. Mona

Oh, and, you know, after you shared her story, I obviously as you know, I educate a lot online. I have a large platform where I deal with pro-vaccine sentiment, vaccine hesitancy and then anti-vax sentiment. And, you know, as a pediatrician, I obviously love when people are pro-vaccine what I mean by that is that they understand that the benefits outweigh the risks, they would like to proceed with them.

 

00;19;56;13 – 00;20;15;17

Dr. Mona

Awesome. And then you have that group of vaccine hesitant where families are like, you know what, I don’t know, I’ve heard X, Y, and Z. I want to trust the science, explain more, and then you deal with the anti-vax crowd, which is very hard as a pediatrician, as someone who is like yourself, very understanding of science, understanding of benefit and risk.

 

00;20;15;20 – 00;20;39;12

Dr. Mona

So there is a lot of conversation online when it comes to risk with vaccines and illness. And sometimes people will say what you already alluded to, right? Like children are healthy, they can fight these infections, or it’s only a small number of deaths each year, which can be so hard to hear. And as someone who is in this work, as someone who lost a child to a vaccine preventable illness, what is it like to hear those statements?

 

00;20;39;12 – 00;20;57;11

Dr. Mona

And what would you want families to understand about the real impact on vaccines and why? Maybe we should be vaccinating even though it’s not perfect. Now let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show.

 

00;20;57;13 – 00;21;28;08

Serese Marotta

Oh yeah. Excellent question. And you know, history tells us a lot, right? I mean, we are very fortunate now to have access to vaccines. Vaccines are amazing. We have vaccines for a reason. But when I think back about my grandmother or even my parents in those generation, things like polio, right. Yeah. The fact that we have vaccines available to us, you know, this is not my phrase, but it’s one here.

 

00;21;28;08 – 00;21;53;05

Serese Marotta

So often it’s like vaccines are a victim of their own success. Yeah. We don’t normally see these diseases anymore. Of course, right now flu continues to be a problem. I mean, right now we are continuing to see pediatric flu deaths each and every year since 2004 when we started recording pediatrics suite, US over 2007 hundred children have lost lost their lives to flu.

 

00;21;53;11 – 00;22;18;27

Serese Marotta

That’s an enormous number. Now, we’ve seen vaccination rates going down recently. We’re seeing outbreaks of measles and whooping cough. These weren’t a thing because vaccines were so successful. So. Well, for me, when I’m here as a parent who lost a child to a vaccine preventable disease, someone say, oh, you know what? This isn’t a big deal. These diseases aren’t a big deal in my child’s healthy.

 

00;22;18;27 – 00;22;49;13

Serese Marotta

They’re not at risk for a moment like I totally do see where they’re coming from, first of all, because I was them. Yeah, that’s so important for me. When I. I was, I didn’t know what I know. Now, 16.5 years ago, I knew vaccines were important. I trust the science. I trust in safety and effectiveness. But I didn’t understand the burden of vaccine preventable disease, whether we’re talking about flu, meningitis, whooping cough, what have you.

 

00;22;49;21 – 00;23;11;14

Serese Marotta

So when I hear someone say that my immediate reaction is no judgment stress because you or that person, you didn’t know what you didn’t know. So I really always try to lead with empathy. And you know, if it’s an opportunity for me to engage in a conversation, you know, hey, I’d love to maybe sometimes share my story.

 

00;23;11;14 – 00;23;47;03

Serese Marotta

So sometimes I might share my story. Now to trauma dump on somebody. But, you know, if, again, the situation allows it, I might also kind of use motivational interviewing or kind of reflective listening because, again, it’s perfectly okay for people to have questions and concerns. And so I want to listen to that. And if I can kind of lead them towards credible sources of information and say, hey, this is where you can go for credible information and for for me, and I’m sure it is for you, Mona, they should be talking to their doctors, right?

 

00;23;47;05 – 00;24;06;11

Serese Marotta

Like we know based on the data, based on the surveys in the past, people still, for the most part, trust, trust their doctors. So at the end of the day, I’m not a physician. I’m not a provider. So I’m always like, hey, I can share this information with you, but I really suggest that you go talk to your provider.

 

00;24;06;14 – 00;24;15;25

Serese Marotta

If people don’t have a provider, because that is a thing. Sometimes people don’t have a medical home, then it’s a moment for us to kind of steer them towards other resources.

 

00;24;15;28 – 00;24;33;29

Dr. Mona

And thank you for giving a nod to the clinicians out there doing this work. You know, like I said, from the beginning, after you shared your your story, our mission is to keep kids out of our office, out of the hospital. That’s our goal, right? And it’s not always perfect. And I, I say this when I also educate about vaccines, and I love that you take that no judgment approach.

 

00;24;33;29 – 00;24;57;02

Dr. Mona

You’ve been there. I will be honest. Like during the pandemic, I watch it during the Covid pandemic. I want to clarify, when I was educating online, I would start to get more into that angry, sort of judgmental, section of like, why aren’t you getting this? Why are you anti? And I think it was just this, this, these camps that were created as a result of the of the Covid pandemic of educating online.

 

00;24;57;02 – 00;25;15;21

Dr. Mona

And I started to kind of rein it in a little bit and say, you know what? If I actually want to reach families, if I actually want people to understand what I’m saying and actually want them to vaccinate, I have to step back a little bit and not come from a place of claws out judgment, but a place of a curiosity like, why are you feeling this way?

 

00;25;15;23 – 00;25;45;01

Dr. Mona

And so I thank you for that. I think it’s so important. And, you know, as we approach respiratory season, parents start hearing about multiple virus circulating at the same time flu, RSV, Covid. And then, of course, you brought up the H1n1 pandemic. And is that going to come back? You know, it can quickly feel overwhelming. So from your perspective in your work here, what are the biggest points of confusion families face during respiratory season, and what do you wish parents understood more clearly as they walk into a respiratory season to come?

 

00;25;45;04 – 00;26;10;02

Serese Marotta

Yeah, I think right now confusion is rampant. Yeah, there’s a lot of people that are confused just because of what’s been happening in the immunization space. And I think the first thing for me again, is always like, talk to your provider. If you have one, talk to your pediatrician, stay up to date on routine immunizations. That is so important to prevent what’s preventable, right?

 

00;26;10;02 – 00;26;28;29

Serese Marotta

Like you don’t want to be sitting in a hospital room with your child going, gosh, I wish I would have so many parents that are in that situation. Not great. My heart breaks for them. So definitely, I think first thing you know, talk to your provider, stay up to date. Our routine immunizations make it a priority for your family.

 

00;26;29;01 – 00;26;48;27

Serese Marotta

Make a plan. Again, convenience is hard. I know I’m a working mom. My daughter is older now, so she doesn’t quite require quite as much care. But you you to have a plan. So make a plan for respiratory season, you know, talk to your doctor. Think about what are the risks. Unfortunately, even if you are healthy, your child’s healthy.

 

00;26;49;04 – 00;27;21;17

Serese Marotta

We still need that protection. We are not superheroes. We are still, you know, not invincible. As much as we like to think that sometimes. And then there’s always the standard things that, you know, washing hands, getting enough sleep, good nutrition, staying home when sick, all of those things doing the elbow cough. You know, I think it’s a responsibility, that we have because and I know we might talk about this a little bit later is like when I get my vaccines, I very much am doing what is best for my health.

 

00;27;21;17 – 00;27;42;29

Serese Marotta

But for me, because of losing Joseph, I’m also thinking about how my actions of getting vaccinated can help protect other people because for Joseph, I do not know where he got that from. The virus. I don’t know who Joseph’s Patient zero was. It could have been somebody in his kindergarten class. It could have been somebody at the mall.

 

00;27;42;29 – 00;27;54;23

Serese Marotta

It could have been somebody at the supermarket. That person will never know that they passed that virus to my child and my child died. So for me, it’s a really great social responsibility as well.

 

00;27;54;25 – 00;28;14;16

Dr. Mona

And I agree with you about that. Right? I mean, and I think it’s really hard in this day and age and it’s always existed this sort of I choose what I do with my body, sentiment. Right. And I, I’m all for that when it comes to things that don’t impact other people. Right. Like when we think about, you know, what a woman wants to do with her body, or we think about what a person wants to wear.

 

00;28;14;21 – 00;28;35;13

Dr. Mona

If it doesn’t change my life, I do not care. However, you brought up a very good point about the social responsibility. Things like herd immunity. The more people that are vaccinated and you alluded to this earlier, that with it’s happening right now with the measles outbreaks. Right. We are seeing record number of cases of measles in the United States probably going to lose our elimination status.

 

00;28;35;16 – 00;28;55;28

Dr. Mona

We’re recording this in March. It’s debuting in the fall. So maybe by the time I debut it, that’ll be the case. Which I hope not, but it’s going that way. How will I know? You already mentioned that you come with a sense of compassion and no judgment, but when you hear this sort of anti-vax rhetoric and I want to say, you know, this sort of it’s it’s dangerous.

 

00;28;55;28 – 00;29;05;16

Dr. Mona

It’s, you know, it’s harmful to us. Like, how do you approach it with that compassion but also help them understand, like, this is important for you? Like.

 

00;29;05;19 – 00;29;05;28

Serese Marotta

Yeah.

 

00;29;05;29 – 00;29;24;23

Dr. Mona

Knowing, you know, going through what you’ve been through, it can be very hard. It’s already hard for me sometimes when I get that sort of monotone repetitive, like how many times I have to say this, but would do that to for someone who’s listening, who’s maybe like, how can I actually get through to them to help them understand that their actions are valuable for the good, the greater good of the community?

 

00;29;24;26 – 00;29;45;09

Serese Marotta

Yeah, I think again, it’s empathy and it’s, you know, listening as much as we talk, sometimes we like to talk a lot. I’m guilty of that a lot. You know, like, I know the science and like, I don’t care about the this right. You know. So I think it’s listening. It’s leading with empathy. It’s really trying to connect with people on a human level.

 

00;29;45;09 – 00;30;16;03

Serese Marotta

And this sounds so simplistic. Yeah. But that’s really what it’s about. We are emotional human beings. We need to connect with other people on that level and make them feel heard and make them feel validated, because we don’t know their story. We don’t know where they’re coming from. We don’t know their circumstance. So I think while it’s easy and perhaps just reflexive for us to be like, oh, I’m going to make up this story in my head and I can feel the judgment coming.

 

00;30;16;10 – 00;30;43;14

Serese Marotta

Yeah, hot. Take a breath and think, gosh, all of us are emotional and can be emotional in different scenarios. So I think it’s leading with Grace, and I want to share a quick story about myself that illustrates this, because for me, you would think like, if anybody is hardcore pro-vaccine, it’s going to be me because I’m a scientist.

 

00;30;43;20 – 00;31;02;04

Serese Marotta

I have lost my child to a vaccine preventable disease. I’m not ever going to waiver, my daughter. And so I’m going to be vulnerable for a moment. Mona, with with you in the audience when my daughter, it was time for her. She was about 12, I think, to get the HPV vaccine. So this was a while ago.

 

00;31;02;04 – 00;31;27;22

Serese Marotta

She’s 23 now. So we are talking a while ago, I remember sitting in my pediatrician’s office. So Josephine passed in 2009. My daughter was seven. So now, you know, we’re like five years out. I remember sitting in my pediatrician’s office with my daughter, and I love my pediatrician. And she came in and she said, okay, it’s time for my, first dose of the HPV vaccine.

 

00;31;27;24 – 00;32;08;28

Serese Marotta

And I froze because at that point in time, there was like the height of misinformation about the HPV vaccine. Yeah. And I remember sitting in that chair and all of my emotions were overriding my logic, and I was like, frozen. And I said to my pediatrician, I said, I know we’re going to do this, but can you please go out there in your office and just find me a whole bunch of, like, literature and just bring it back to me because I need to just sit with this for a few moments and try to talk myself into this, even though I know my rational brain is telling me this is what I need to dup

 

00;32;08;29 – 00;32;40;26

Serese Marotta

to do. So long story short, she got her vaccine, she finished her series, you know, within the recommended dosing. But that personal experience for me was so important for my own perspective because it showed me how susceptible all of us are to believing things that may or may not be true. And we’re having this emotional reaction, especially as a parent.

 

00;32;40;28 – 00;33;19;00

Serese Marotta

You’re like, I’m making such a huge, significant decision right now for my child’s health, and how can I not have an emotional reaction to that? So I share that to be vulnerable and and really be empathic and say when someone takes pause, I understand we are human and that’s our opportunity as folks, as providers like human IT and public health educators like, like vaccinate your family and our staff to come in and listen and lead with empathy and then give them the information that will again help them make an informed decision.

 

00;33;19;02 – 00;33;43;10

Dr. Mona

I really appreciate you being transparent and honest and vulnerable. Thank you for prefacing that. I also have shared a story about when I was vaccine hesitant, using that phrase. You know, my son was born with stroke and seizures, at birth. And it was very hard. I was that pediatrician mom on the other side in the NICU, wondering what’s going to happen developmentally when he was, hooked up to wires, all of that.

 

00;33;43;12 – 00;34;03;16

Dr. Mona

And so when it came time, he got the hepatitis B vaccine in the hospital. Fine. But when it came time to do his two month vaccines, which are your, you know, your DTaP, your prevnar, your meningitis vaccines, the rotavirus. I hesitated because my son had been through so much medically, and I was looking at the vaccine as another medical intervention.

 

00;34;03;16 – 00;34;22;06

Dr. Mona

And I know that one of the vaccines, which is DTaP, can cause febrile seizures. And I my son had seizures and I was scared because I was like, you know what? What if this increases in seizures? And I talked to my neurologist, or his neurologist. I said, hey, I know we have to get the DTaP. I know it’s rare.

 

00;34;22;06 – 00;34;48;17

Dr. Mona

My rational brain knows that this is rare, that seizures are rare after the vaccine, but I can’t get myself to do it. And she’s like, Mona, I completely understand you’re a mom too, and I ended up doing it, but that night I didn’t sleep. I didn’t sleep because I was worried that what if the common thing that I see, which is very self-limiting, by the way, I’ve seen febrile seizures happen after the DTaP and the kids have gone on to live beautiful lives.

 

00;34;48;20 – 00;35;07;19

Dr. Mona

But what if this does cause them to cease? When we went through so much stress and so much agony in those first, you know, week of his life trying to get those seizures under control, managing all of that. And I’m grateful. And I have shared that story on my social. I don’t know if I’ve shared it on my podcast, so thank you for inspiring me to share it here.

 

00;35;07;22 – 00;35;27;15

Dr. Mona

But it’s that story that I try to tap into when I’m feeling that overwhelm of trying to get into those conversations again, and I quite frankly. So I want to be very clear, a lot of pediatricians want to educate families, right? We that’s what we signed up for. We want to be the person who tells you the nuance and hey, why the benefit outweighs the risk.

 

00;35;27;15 – 00;35;51;24

Dr. Mona

But in the reality of the day to day of being a pediatrician in 2026 is we don’t often have the time to do it right. So so what happens is it’s it’s by design that I think this is a harmful thing that a family comes in and they’re vaccine curious or hesitant. The pediatrician immediately because they’re burnt out and have no time, assumes that they are not going to vaccinate, when in reality they very well could do it.

 

00;35;51;24 – 00;36;07;21

Dr. Mona

They just want to have questions. So what happens? And I’ve seen this happen with myself when I was burnt out and my colleagues is that they start to get more into that. I know what I’m talking about. And they lose the empathy, right? They lose the thing that mean you both know is what’s going to actually cause change.

 

00;36;07;24 – 00;36;27;22

Dr. Mona

And with that comes a family who’s now disgruntled, a family who’s now feeling like, hey, this doctor doesn’t listen to what I’m saying. This doctor doesn’t hear what I’m saying. And where do they go? They go online where they feel seen. And unfortunately, some of the loudest voices online are not giving the right information. And so I think this empathy is important.

 

00;36;27;22 – 00;36;53;09

Dr. Mona

I think organizations like Vaccinate Your Family are critical, because if you’re listening to this and you’re feeling like your pediatrician was dismissive of your concerns around vaccines, I know that that doctor does not want to be dismissive. I know that there’s more to that story. They are probably burnt out. They probably have five patients waiting because insurance companies, all of the other logistical things that have caused us not to be able to practice the medicine we want to is at play here.

 

00;36;53;11 – 00;37;15;18

Dr. Mona

And I think it’s really important to share that, because I think there’s this sort of by design, the medical system is pulling people away into the arms of anti-vax sentiment, of pseudoscience. And I’ve been very vocal about this because when we don’t have the time to explain, someone is going to go to someone who’s going to give that time and attention and give them bad information.

 

00;37;15;25 – 00;37;20;17

Dr. Mona

And that is a dangerous cycle that we’re creating in modern medicine right now in America.

 

00;37;20;20 – 00;37;50;16

Serese Marotta

100%. I I’ve seen it myself, you know, so many times, and it’s heartbreaking. And I absolutely understand so much respect for what you guys do as pediatricians and providers. You know, and, and there’s so much on your plate and there’s so much to talk about. You’re right. And, you know, I’ve said I’ve heard so many people, you know, if we talk about flu vaccination, even some friends have said, well, you know, I didn’t get my kid a flu vaccine because my pediatrician didn’t mention it.

 

00;37;50;19 – 00;38;00;20

Serese Marotta

So I’m like, oh gosh, that doesn’t mean they don’t think it’s important. But exactly what you said, Mona. Yeah. No, these people are falling through the cracks and it’s heartbreaking.

 

00;38;00;23 – 00;38;22;03

Dr. Mona

And so thank you for the work you do. And I would like to talk about the flu vaccine too, you know, and you already shared your personal story of how the health of children, you don’t have to have underlying medical issues can die from the flu. And many parents think of illnesses like the flu, even measles, by the way, as uncomfortable but manageable, something that kids just have to get through.

 

00;38;22;09 – 00;38;46;19

Dr. Mona

So can you help put into perspective how we should look at that? Like that conversation? You know, how we should look at respiratory illnesses like influenza, how they can be serious for children. And what you would say to those parents who are sort of, thinking that same rhetoric that we often hear of. Now, let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show.

 

00;38;46;21 – 00;39;11;25

Serese Marotta

Oh, yeah. So, so much to say about flu. And again, I want to go back to where I was before Joseph died. I think what is so common that we hear is cold and flu or cold and flu or cold and flu. So people I think, you know, you walk into a pharmacy or a grocery store and you see all these over-the-counter products, cold and flu.

 

00;39;11;27 – 00;39;39;28

Serese Marotta

So I think in their minds, people, it makes sense that they’re like, oh, flu is kind of just like a cold. It’s not a big deal. I can tell you now having lost my child to it, it’s a very big deal. It’s a very big difference between the common cold and influenza. You know every year upwards it’s not just kids but on average over 100 children lose their lives to flu every year.

 

00;39;40;01 – 00;40;01;25

Serese Marotta

Right now we’re in March. I know this is going to premiere later, but we’re obviously in the 2526 season. Still, as of today, 123 children have died from flu this season. Last season it was 294 children. So and it’s really easy for us to say these numbers and to kind of just move forward because it’s this abstract thing.

 

00;40;01;27 – 00;40;27;04

Serese Marotta

But I can tell you just from my personal perspective, like every dinner, there’s an empty chair at my table. I did not see my son go to college. He should be in college right now. I will never see him get married. Like. And it’s not just my immediate family. It’s my extended family. It’s my community. There’s so many impacts that happen.

 

00;40;27;07 – 00;40;49;18

Serese Marotta

When a child is lost to a vaccine preventable disease. But flu is so serious now, mind you, many, many people will get flu. They will survive. They will live, they will go on and be fine. But I will also tell you, there’s a lot of people who catch flu. And they say to me, my gosh, it felt like I was hit by a truck.

 

00;40;49;23 – 00;41;15;11

Serese Marotta

I was out of work for two weeks and I was like, yeah, that’s what flu can do. It can be very, very serious. You know? The same thing if we’re talking about respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, Covid, all these other diseases, there’s a reason we have vaccines and they can be very, very serious. And I always kind of try to put a positive frame on it.

 

00;41;15;14 – 00;41;37;15

Serese Marotta

The good news is we can do something about it. We can prevent these diseases with vaccines. We can stay in school, we can stay having, you know, doing our activities with family and friends because we’re not sick in bed for a couple of weeks. We’re not in the hospital. Or worse yet, you know, you don’t lose a child, you don’t lose a loved one.

 

00;41;37;15 – 00;41;46;28

Serese Marotta

So it’s really important that people understand how serious these diseases can be and the importance of staying up to date and routine immunizations.

 

00;41;47;00 – 00;42;08;26

Dr. Mona

In your work with vaccinate your family. You obviously are inspiring people, educating people about the importance of vaccines. You’re sharing stories of vaccine preventable illnesses. What would be 1 or 2, misconceptions or myths you just wish would be debunked? And just wish you would say this is not true when it comes to vaccines or vaccine education.

 

00;42;08;28 – 00;42;28;24

Serese Marotta

Oh gosh, so many. But I’ll start with flu. If I had a nickel for every time someone was like, I got the flu shot and I got the flu. Yeah. No, no. And I look, I get it like this where there’s an opportunity for us to educate people, right, Mona? Yeah. I was like, that’s your immune system doing what it’s supposed to do.

 

00;42;28;27 – 00;42;57;16

Serese Marotta

Your body is gearing up to fight the virus, so maybe you do get a little achy in your arm, or maybe you feel a little yucky. You know that medical term feeling yucky for you half a day, every day? That’s not flu. So I think that’s probably one of the bigger misconceptions we hear around flu vaccination. Another general category is just vaccine safety.

 

00;42;57;18 – 00;43;27;01

Serese Marotta

There are so many processes in place to test vaccine safety and make sure that the vaccines that are available to us are safe and effective. They go through clinical trials, multiple phases of clinical trials after they become available to us. They’re still safety monitoring. That is constantly ongoing. So I think, you know, generally speaking, we hear a lot like people have concerns and questions about vaccine safety.

 

00;43;27;03 – 00;43;53;02

Serese Marotta

Again, so much safety testing. Millions and millions of people have gotten these vaccines. And effectiveness is another one, you know, especially with flu vaccine, no vaccine is perfect. But the flu vaccine some years, if there’s a mismatch with the strains like this season, 2526 we had a slight change in the H3n2 virus, which meant the vaccine effectiveness went down a little bit.

 

00;43;53;04 – 00;44;22;17

Serese Marotta

That being said, still present, prevented severe outcomes, prevented hospitalizations, prevented deaths. So, you know, you think about like other medical interventions that are available to us, like if we have a loved one going through cancer, you know, think about the success rates of chemotherapy and radiation, myself personally, and I will just speak for myself if I went to my doctor, if I had, you know, something like cancer.

 

00;44;22;17 – 00;44;41;11

Serese Marotta

And they said to me, well, you know, this chemo is only hypothetically 20% effective, but maybe it saves your life. Heck yeah, I’m signing up for that. So I think it’s also like the context that we’re thinking about vaccines sometimes seems to be a little bit different than we think about other medical interventions.

 

00;44;41;14 – 00;44;55;21

Dr. Mona

So I you hit the nail on the head with all of the myths that I always debunk. I there’s a laundry list that we could go, but I love that you focused on the flu vaccine. Yes. The flu vaccine does not give you the flu. How many times have I heard that? And it’s it’s not how it works.

 

00;44;55;21 – 00;45;18;22

Dr. Mona

I actually have a video that is going up about that, from the time of this recording. And, you know, one thing that I’m seeing, which I again, we’re recording this and it’s the episode debut is a little bit, delayed from the recording date is right now. We’re recording this in March. Some of the people are stepping down from our ACIp committee, so, you know, right now we’re under the the leadership of Robert Kennedy Jr, if you want to call it that.

 

00;45;18;24 – 00;45;37;23

Dr. Mona

But people are stepping down, Robert Malone being one of them. And I saw that the notice of that and I was like, wow, maybe this is the reckoning that we’ve been waiting for, that people are finally realizing people, meaning the people that are in these committees that thought that they could sway the data, that you can always just make lies out of fact.

 

00;45;37;23 – 00;45;58;03

Dr. Mona

And the reality that I keep coming back to is that you cannot argue with data and facts like it’s on paper. There is data here, and I bring that up because when you talk about vaccine safety, I always explain to families that the benefit outweighs the risk, right. Rather than using 100% safe, it’s safe, I tell them, because I know it’s a medical intervention, that nothing is 100%.

 

00;45;58;03 – 00;46;17;08

Dr. Mona

I love that you’re very clear on that. Not only is it not 100% in efficacy, but it’s also not 100% that there won’t be any chance of a side effect. But you look at the benefit of getting this vaccine. It outweighs any risk of getting the vaccine. And that’s what I feel about pretty much every about every routine a vaccine, which is why I recommend them.

 

00;46;17;10 – 00;46;35;04

Dr. Mona

And so I think that sort of language can really help, rather than the false promises that we’re often given during the Covid pandemic, which was, hey, you know, this vaccine is 100% safe. And then, of course, the blood clots with the J&J vaccine happened and people are like, well, what is this? We should never have really said 100% safe.

 

00;46;35;05 – 00;46;53;19

Dr. Mona

You know, that should not ever be the thing. But you said it beautifully. The studies are very thorough. We are constantly monitoring. And so I really appreciate that. Is there anything else you’d want to add? For families listening today when it comes to vaccine, vaccine education or, you know, things that we didn’t chat about that you feel is important?

 

00;46;53;21 – 00;47;27;27

Serese Marotta

Yeah. I just really want to emphasize, you know, that our goal is to make sure that people have access to evidence based information, vaccination services. We want people to have the information, the credible information to make informed decision about vaccines for themselves and their families, you know, and vaccinate your family. We have a website where I social media channels, we hopefully if you have questions, visit our website, vaccinate your family.org, again and encourage folks to talk to their pediatrician, their primary care doctor.

 

00;47;27;29 – 00;47;53;28

Serese Marotta

If you have questions, it’s okay. But vaccines are a way that we can lead healthy, long, productive lives. Think of it just like anything else. We go to sleep, we get enough sleep. We eat well, we exercise, we do all of the things that we know our best to help protect ourselves, protect our families. Think about vaccines is just another way to stay healthy.

 

00;47;53;28 – 00;48;00;08

Serese Marotta

And I hope parents really feel empowered, to make vaccines a priority this respiratory season.

 

00;48;00;10 – 00;48;25;11

Dr. Mona

Thank you so much. Thank you for being here again, sharing your personal story, how that turned into advocacy with Vaccinate your Family. Vaccinate your family is one of the resources I direct families to on my free vaccine guide. I have a vaccine guide that is about maybe 70 pages long that goes through every single childhood vaccine. Why I recommend it, the risks of every vaccine, and then also resources and vaccinate your family is one of those main resources.

 

00;48;25;14 – 00;48;35;14

Dr. Mona

Just because you are stating fact, you are stating what you see. You are stating exactly what I want parents to hear too. So thank you so much for joining me today.

 

00;48;35;17 – 00;48;39;12

Serese Marotta

Thank you, Mona, for having me.

 

00;48;39;14 – 00;49;00;28

Dr. Mona

I’m not going to pretend that this one hit me. Light some conversations, just sit with you for days and this is one of them. My biggest takeaway is something serious lived through in the worst way possible. Joseph was a kid, a healthy kid. It doesn’t even matter if he had medical complications. He was a child. And that is the point here.

 

00;49;01;00 – 00;49;22;20

Dr. Mona

Vaccine preventable illnesses does not only take the vulnerable, and even if it does only take the vulnerable, we should care about the vulnerable. We should care about all children. But it can take a perfectly healthy kid who loves Star Wars and puzzles and woke his mom up every morning at six to play. That is why the math matters so much to me.

 

00;49;22;22 – 00;49;47;20

Dr. Mona

Over 11 years of practice, I have just seen the pattern play out again and again, and my goal is to always reduce risk whenever we can. I also want to take a moment to say something that I feel every single time a guest like Cerise comes on the show. I have had parents share their losses with me before a child who drowned a child taken by something vaccine preventable and I appreciate more than words can really capture.

 

00;49;47;23 – 00;50;07;05

Dr. Mona

I know the grief never goes away. We learn to grow around our grief. It doesn’t grow smaller, it just something we carry differently. So when a parent takes that pain and turns it into advocacy, into wanting something better for other families, that is one of the most powerful legacies that can come out of heartbreak. So thank you. Vaccinate your family for your advocacy work.

 

00;50;07;05 – 00;50;34;26

Dr. Mona

And thank you for Cerise for sharing her story. My hope for you after listening is simple. Let this conversation move you towards the right information, not fear. Ask your pediatrician the questions you have been sitting on. Follow people who understand the balance between clinical and evidence based medicine. And if you know a parent who’s on the fence about vaccinating, or a parent who has walked through a loss like services send them this episode, they do not have to feel alone in it.

 

00;50;34;28 – 00;50;48;08

Dr. Mona

Tag at the PedsDocTalk podcast, at PedsDocTalk, and at Vaccinate Your Family when you share on social media. And remember, take care of your family. Listen to the facts, get curious, but don’t get overthrown by fear.