You always do your best for your children, don’t you? You make sure they are fed and clothed and have a safe place to sleep. You teach them right from wrong and how to cross the street. You do everything you can to keep them happy and healthy. So it only makes sense that you would also want to protect them from deadly diseases by vaccinating them.
Table of Contents
- 1. Immunizations Can Save Your Children’s Life
- 2. Vaccines Are Safe and Effective
- 3. Natural Immunity Isn’t Always Best
- 4. Your Children Can Spread Disease to Others
- 5. Immunizations Can Save Your Family Time and Money
- 6. Immunization Protects Future Generations
- 7. Vaccines Have Been Around for Centuries
- Final Thought
1. Immunizations Can Save Your Children’s Life
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all children be vaccinated against 14 potentially deadly diseases before they turn six years old. These diseases are diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis B, chickenpox, and influenza.
Immunizations are one of the most important ways you can protect your child from these 14 serious childhood diseases.
Thanks to vaccines, most of us no longer have to worry about getting these diseases. But they’re still common in other parts of the world. And if we stopped vaccinating, these diseases could come back here.
2. Vaccines Are Safe and Effective
Vaccines are carefully tested before they’re licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Once they’re in use, they’re constantly monitored for safety.
People sometimes worry that a child can get too many vaccines. But it’s not true. Kids’ immune systems are very good at handling more than one vaccine at a time.
3. Natural Immunity Isn’t Always Best
Sure, if you get chickenpox, you’ll probably be just fine. But some childhood diseases can be deadly, even if you’re healthy. And there’s no way to tell if you’ll get a mild or severe case of a disease like measles.
With chickenpox, for example, 1 in 10 kids will develop a serious skin infection. And about 1 in 100 who get chickenpox will develop a life-threatening condition called pneumonia. The bottom line is, that vaccines are much safer than the diseases they prevent.
4. Your Children Can Spread Disease to Others
Vaccine-preventable illnesses are more dangerous to some people than others. Babies, pregnant women, people with cancer or HIV, and people with weakened immune systems can’t get certain vaccines. They depend on “herd immunity” to protect them from disease.
That’s when enough people are vaccinated that it’s hard for an illness to spread. So even if your child is healthy, vaccinating them helps keep other vulnerable people safe.
5. Immunizations Can Save Your Family Time and Money
Caring for a sick child is never fun. It can also be expensive, especially if your child has to see a doctor or go to the hospital. In some cases, you might have to miss work to care for them.
Vaccines are much less expensive than treating an illness. They also help keep your family healthy and together.
6. Immunization Protects Future Generations
We have come so far in preventing disease. In the early 1900s, thousands of children died each year from measles, diphtheria, and whooping cough. Today, thanks to vaccines, we don’t see these diseases much anymore in the United States.
But if we stopped vaccinating, these diseases could come back and start killing our kids again. By vaccinating your children, you’re helping to protect future generations.
7. Vaccines Have Been Around for Centuries
Vaccines have been around for centuries, and they are one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions ever devised. Immunization not only protects children from potentially deadly diseases, but also helps prevent outbreaks. When more people are vaccinated against a disease, it becomes harder for the disease to spread. This “herd immunity” helps protect people who are unable to be vaccinated, such as infants and those with weakened immune systems.
Final Thought
Vaccines expose your child to a weakened form of the disease, which trains their immune system to recognize and fight the disease if they are ever exposed to it in the future. Natural immunity comes from actually getting the disease, which can often be deadly.
Therefore, vaccinating your child is one of the best things you can do to protect their health. It’s safe, it’s effective, and it’s the best way to ensure that your child has a bright and healthy future.