How Important Is Immunization For Your Children
Immunization is an important way of protecting your children from infectious disease through vaccination. Vaccine prepares the body to fight against the disease when they come in contact with them.
Infants are born with some natural immunity which they are passed from their mother and after birth it continues through breast feeding. But it is temporary and as babies grow they develop their own immune system.
Immunization can protect your child from vaccine preventable disease.Vaccination not only protect children from various infectious disease but protects the community to fight and reduce any particular harmful disease. We have seen how immunization at large scale has helped to almost disappeared the disease like small pox and polio.
Children are more vulnerable to infectious disease. That is why awareness campaign urges parents to get immunized their children before they become 2 years of age.
Some parents believe that immunization will have serious reaction on their kids and they will get the disease the vaccine is supposed to prevent. But they are misguided. Some vaccine can cause mild reaction like fever or soreness but there can not be any serious reactions. They should know that risk of vaccination is far more beneficial than the risk attached to the disease. In fact vaccine can fight the virus or bacteria if it enters the body.
Parents should which vaccine their child should have and when. They should keep a record of immunization schedule of their child themselves. When new vaccines are developed changes are recommended in the immunization schedule.
WHO has recommended an immunization schedule for children. Under this Immunization program infants up to one year old are to be vaccinated with three doses of DPT(Diptheria, Pertussis and Tetanus), one dose of BCG and Measles and three dose of Polio vaccine. Besides this MMR and Hepatitis B are also recommended.
Some changes that have been included in 2007 childhood immunization are:
The new Rotavirus vaccine three doses at 2, and 6 months
Influenza vaccine between 6 months to 5 years of age.
So Immunization is most essential and cost effective process to save lives of millions of children.
