Each day, parents have to make choices about the well being of their children which include immunizations that help protect your child and family from diseases.
Vaccines have been one of the greatest achievements in public health having saved millions of lives over the years and preventing many more from the spread of various diseases. Making educated choices are important and knowing the facts about vaccines and avoiding misrepresentations can help keep your children safe.
- The Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a strict testing of ingredients and along with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) develops the immunization schedule to ensure that the safest products are available and that they provide the best protection possible.
- While immunizations protect individuals, it also helps to protect the general population and those who may not be directly protected due to problems with their individual immune systems.
This “herd immunity” is a valuable way of helping to protect the very young to the elderly who are more susceptible to infections because of their immune system defects.
If we stopped vaccinating our children, then diseases that are almost unknown would stage a comeback and we would see epidemics of diseases that are nearly under control today return.
Immunizations begin with protecting our children and continue as they grow from babies to adolescents and into adults. It is important that we continue to follow the recommended immunization schedules for each age group to protect the health of our families and communities from these vaccine preventable diseases.
How Immunizations Work
Once your body gets infected with disease germs, your immune system starts working by detecting certain germs that do not belong in your body and responds by producing antibodies which help to destroy them helping you to get well.
Your immune system remembers these germs and help to fight off the germs if you get infected again keeping you from getting sick again. This is how immunization works where a vaccine (which are killed or weakened diseases germs) is administered which stimulate the body’s own immune system to detect and destroy invading bacteria or viruses.
This works the same as if you were exposed to the actual disease but because the germs are weakened or killed, it won’t make you sick and you develop immunity in the event that the disease tries to invade your immune system later.
Protecting Your Child, Family & Community
Your child and family needs to be protected in different situations, such as starting school, going to college or traveling out of the country. Many countries around the world still have some of the diseases which have been under control in the United States for the past few decades.
It’s important that parents understand that vaccinations are requirements for entry to schools beginning in nursery schools and daycares to colleges due to the possibility of outbreaks from exposure to those who have not been vaccinated or exposed to these diseases.
Recent outbreaks in the past few years of measles and pertussis (whooping cough) have occurred as exposure to children who have not been vaccinated were exposed and developed the diseases. Many of these diseases are spread from person to person through the air by coughing, sneezing or just breathing. Other diseases are spread through the mouth, blood or body fluids or breaks in the skin.