While pediatricians strongly recommend vaccinating children, and most school districts require proof of immunizations, there is some controversy in the media regarding the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. Nonetheless, most parents opt to give their children the recommended immunizations even if they question why Children’s Vaccinations in San Antonio Texas are important. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are several reasons why immunizations are very beneficial, not just for one’s own children but for the larger population as well.
For one thing, thanks to vaccines, diseases that once killed or disabled many people are now extremely rare. Polio is one example, a terrifying disease that paralyzed over 20,000 children in one year when the epidemic peaked in the 1950s. Fortunately, a vaccine has reduced the incidence of polio by 99%. Small pox is another example. Once a dreaded disease that killed or disfigured millions of people, it has not been diagnosed since 1977 due to the widespread use of the small pox vaccine.
The above examples show the powerful good that vaccines can do, but it’s important to keep administering them even when the disease is mostly gone from the population. When people stop getting an immunization, the disease can suddenly return and flourish. This happened in Japan when the government stopped recommending whooping cough vaccinations. In just a few years, the number of reported cases increased from a few hundred to more than ten thousand.
Not only do vaccinations protect the individuals who get them, but they also protect vulnerable members of the population. This is known as herd immunization. Some people are not able to be vaccinated; for example, infants don’t begin receiving vaccines until two months of age. People who have a compromised immune system or an allergic reaction to a vaccine are also at risk. If most of the people around them have been vaccinated, it’s very unlikely that a disease will enter into the group. That protects the vulnerable members of the group who can’t otherwise protect themselves.
Parents can make sure their children are on schedule with vaccines by consulting their pediatrician or a pediatric clinic that provides Children’s Vaccinations in San Antonio Texas. For more information about vaccines for children, visit our website.
