Vaccines: Your child’s very own armor
For many moms, the most difficult challenge is figuring out how to keep your newborn safe and sound. You will fuss about how the bottles are cleaned, how the nursery is kept and you might even be fickle about letting people hold your baby. However, as much as you try to keep your home safe for your child, there are still diseases that he can catch outside or from other people.
Thankfully, there are vaccines that ensure that can avoid your child from catching and suffering from numerous diseases. Basically, vaccines are a way of making your baby immune to certain diseases. This can happen by introducing weakened or non living form of certain bacteria or virus. Now, the idea of introducing these things to your child’s body may be scary but don’t panic. These organisms are too weak to cause any harm. The body will easily recognize these as foreign materials. As a response, the body will build proteins or antibodies that will fight infection and kill off the bacteria or virus. Think of it this way, the body is like a small military organization. Once a small group of enemies are spotted, the body will create a team of soldiers to fight it. And like any good military organization, the body will keep a record of how the battle ensued and which tactics were successful. When they encounter the same enemies, they can refer to the archives and use the successful tactics, ensuring themselves of a victory.
Once your child gets vaccines for diseases like Hepatitis, Chickenpox, Diphtheria, Polio, mumps and measles, you can rest easy knowing that he will now be immune to these diseases. Even if his playmates are infected, he won’t catch them. By having your child vaccinated, you can save him from suffering these common diseases and their complications. He will never have scars from chickenpox and he will not have the risk of paralysis as a result of polio.
Vaccines are one of the greatest contributions of medical world. It has improved human life in so far as it has successfully eliminated diseases that used to kill thousands of children and adults. For example, it eradicated smallpox, a disease that was so deadly; it claimed almost one in every 7 children in Europe. Also, within five years of administering vaccines for measles, the number of measles patients per year dropped from 500,000 to a mere 20,000.
Aside from eradicating diseases, vaccines are also a great way of cutting your healthcare costs. By having your child vaccinated, you avoid the costs that might be incurred in confining your child to a hospital for days or weeks. This is especially important to people who do not have insurance and cannot afford hospital bills.
However, just as in other medications, vaccines do have certain risks. There have been groups that claim that the thiomersal in vaccines have organic mercury that may be linked to the onset of autism. Some also claim that vaccines have a lot of substances that may cause allergies in children.
As with any medical procedure, consult your doctor and see if it is safe for your child to receive vaccinations. Vaccinations may save lives but it is not a one-size-fits-all procedure. Every child will react to it differently so make sure your child has received proper medical screening before you go for a vaccination.
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