Home > Health > Immunizations

Vaccinations Provide Immunity from Many Serious Diseases

Children can be protected from many serious and potentially fatal diseases if they are properly vaccinated. When children are vaccinated for specific diseases they are rendered immune, or nearly immune. Vaccinations provide immunity because they actually expose children to attenuated (or harmless) versions of the very diseases they are being immunized against. In effect, the vaccination process tricks the body into believing it has already had the disease. The body is then able to fend off real-life disease attacks. With immunity, children may even experience direct disease exposure and not contract the illness.

Immunizations have saved many lives. Vaccine-preventable diseases were a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children prior to the institution of a routine immunization program. In the 1940s, the annual incidence of measles in the United States was 800,000. A high percentage of these children also suffered measles-associated pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. In 2003 there were only 105 cases reported in the US, with two deaths.

Major children's health organizations in the United States recommend that children receive DTP, DTaP, MMR, Hib, hepatitis B, varicella, and OPV or IPV vaccinations. Children with compromised immune systems may require additional immunizations or a vaccination schedule that varies from mainstream recommendations. Detailed vaccination charts may be obtained from your pediatrician or by following the links on this page.

While vaccinations are unquestionably the best possible way to prevent large-scale disease outbreaks among populations, some question the risk that vaccinations may present to individuals. The National Vaccine Information Center works to advise the public that, like any medical procedure, the vaccination process does present risks. The organization seeks to educate parents about specific vaccination risk rates and to protect parents' rights to refuse vaccinations for their children.