Q: I am worried about getting my child vaccinated - some people say they could harm my child. What should I do?

A: This is a question I hear a lot from parents. When I ask them where they are learning about vaccinations, it’s often from social media or ‘friends-of-friends’.

Often, these opinions are not based on scientific evidence and could put your child at risk of a serious illness.

Vaccination is the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves and our children against ill health. They prevent up to 3 million deaths worldwide every year.

Vaccination doesn’t just protect your child, it also protects other people in your community – by helping to stop diseases spreading to people who cannot have vaccines.

Vaccines are safety tested for years before being introduced – they're also monitored for any side effects. They reduce or even get rid of some diseases – if enough people are vaccinated

Since vaccines were introduced in the UK, diseases like smallpox, polio and tetanus that used to kill or disable millions of people are either gone or seen very rarely. Other diseases like measles and diphtheria have been reduced by up to 99.9 per cent since their vaccines were introduced.

However, if people stop having vaccines, it's possible for infectious diseases to quickly spread again.

It’s true that they sometimes cause mild side effects that will not last long – some children may feel a bit unwell and have a sore arm for two or three days.

Measles and mumps cases have nearly doubled in recent years, linked to fewer children having the vaccinations. This is serious as measles can lead to life-threatening complications like meningitis, and mumps can cause hearing loss.

One myth that about vaccinations are that they can cause autism. This is not true: studies have found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Vaccines do not contain mercury (thiomersal).

It's safe to give children several vaccines at a time and this reduces the amount of injections they need.

All of the current evidence tells us that vaccinating is safer than not vaccinating. The ingredients in vaccines that could cause harm are in such small amounts they are harmless – but speak to your doctor if you have any known allergies such as eggs or gelatine.

The main ingredient of any vaccine is a small amount of bacteria, virus or toxin that's been weakened or destroyed in a laboratory first. This means there's no risk of healthy people catching a disease from a vaccine.

It's rare for anyone to have a serious allergic reaction to a vaccination. If this does happen, it usually happens within minutes.

The person who vaccinates you or your child will be trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately. With prompt treatment, you or your child will make a good recovery.

Q: My house is very damp and I’m feeling very breathless. Could the dampness be affecting my health?

A: It’s very likely that the dampness is affecting your breathing.

If you are breathless, you should visit your GP to find out if there are medications, such as an inhaler, that will help in the short-term.

In the long-term, fixing the cause of the dampness will be the only way to prevent your condition becoming worse and long-lasting. if you have damp and mould in your home you're more likely to have trouble breathing, respiratory infections, allergies or asthma. Damp and mould can also affect the immune system.

Moulds produce allergens (substances that can cause an allergic reaction), irritants and, sometimes, toxic substances. Inhaling or touching mould spores may cause an allergic reaction, such as sneezing, a runny nose, red eyes and skin rash. Moulds can also cause asthma attacks.

Some people are more sensitive than others, including: babies and children; elderly people; those with existing skin problems, such as eczema; those with respiratory problems, such as allergies and asthma; and those with a weakened immune system, such as people having chemotherapy. These people should stay away from damp and mould.

You can try to tackle some problems, such as condensation, yourself, for example, by keeping the lids on pans when cooking, drying clothes outdoors (and especially not on radiators), venting your tumble dryer to the outside and avoiding using paraffin heaters or flue-less bottled gas heaters which produce a lot of moisture.

Stop moist air getting into the rest of your home. When cooking or bathing, keep the kitchen or bathroom door shut and open the window so that the steam goes outside instead.

Meanwhile, let fresh air circulate to avoid mould forming where the air is still. Make sure there is a gap between your furniture and the walls, and give wardrobes and cupboards a good airing sometimes.

Fitting an extractor fan is an effective way to get rid of moist air and steam so that less condensation forms. If your home doesn’t already have extractor fans, consider getting them fitted in the bathroom and kitchen.

Condensation is not the only cause of damp.

‘Penetrating damp’ is caused by moisture coming into the house through leaking or cracked pipework, a damaged roof, blocked guttering, gaps around window frames and cracked or defective rendering and brickwork.

All these problems can be remedied.

‘Rising damp’ is due to a defective (or non-existent) damp course. This will leave a ‘tide mark’ about a metre above the floor. Fixing rising damp is a job for a qualified builder.

Unfortunately, poor housing can affect many people’s health, whether that’s dampness, overcrowding, or living in temporary accommodation.