Vaccination
Why Immunize?
Children need immunizations to protect them from certain dangerous childhood diseases. Without immunizations, your child can get these diseases — some of which have no cure.
When you get your children fully immunized, you are giving them the best protection against these diseases. Getting immunized also helps protect your community. Diseases spread more easily from person to person if people don’t have all their shots.
And many diseases that have been eliminated in the United States are still common in other parts of the world. That means that dangerous diseases are potentially just a plane flight away. A 2006 outbreak of mumps in the Midwest shows how easy it is for these diseases to spread.
Infants and young children are at the highest risk from these diseases. Immunizations help your child’s immune system to become stronger to fight off these diseases. Each time your child receives an immunization, your child’s immune system becomes stronger.
Importance of Timing
With the adoption of the U.S. 2008 Recommended Immunization Schedule for Persons 0 — 6 years of Age, children may receive up to 24 vaccinations to protect them from up to 14 diseases by the time they're 2 years of age. It may seem like a lot of inoculations for your child, but some parents are unnecessarily concerned.
Vaccines are recommended for very young children because their immune systems are not yet fully mature and also because their stomachs produce less acid, making it easier for ingested bacteria and viruses to multiply. These factors leave them the most vulnerable to the devastating effects of these serious diseases.
When a baby is developing in the mother's womb it is in a sterile environment. The baby's immune system goes into action at birth, as the child confronts bacteria outside of the womb. But our bodies are an amazing creation with an immune system that is ready to go to work from the moment that we are born. Infants begin to immediately develop an active immune response to these bacteria -- an immune response that prevents these bacteria from entering the bloodstream and causing harm.
Within the first two years of life a child is exposed to 11 or 12 vaccines, some of which are given over time in multiple doses. The degree to which these vaccines challenge a child's immune system is just a drop in the ocean when compared to the tens of thousands of environmental challenges that babies successfully manage every single day.
Vaccines Are Not Just for Kids
Far too many adults become ill, are disabled, and die each year from diseases that could easily have been prevented by vaccines. Thus everyone from young adults to senior citizens can benefit from immunizations.
2009 Vaccination Schedules
Resources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention