Child Immunizations

Immunizations protect you and your community from serious disease threats. Understand the risks of underimmunization and learn what to do if you have concerns about vaccine safety. Immunization is one of the best ways you can protect yourself and your children against infectious disease. By stimulating your body’s natural resistance to disease — thereby creating immunity — vaccines are your first line of defense against the likes of polio, measles, mumps, rubella, influenza, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

Were it not for the widespread use of vaccines in the U.S., a far greater number of deaths would occur during childhood and many more people would be living with chronic and often crippling aftereffects of disease.

The immediate result of immunization is the prevention of dangerous, potentially life-threatening infectious illnesses. The long-term goal of an immunization program is the complete eradication of a disease.




Immunization Schedule

If you have trouble keeping track of all the immunizations your child needs, you’re not alone. Many parents find the immunization process confusing, especially when new vaccines are developed and added to the schedule. Complicating matters further is that many vaccines require several doses before a child develops immunity to a disease. And sometimes, due [...]

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Vaccine safety concerns

Despite the success of vaccines, public concern about vaccine safety continues. Many adults fear that introducing a vaccine into themselves or their children may trigger serious side effects or even cause the disease itself. Hearing or seeing media reports regarding a sickness or severe reaction of a child who has just been immunized can raise [...]

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Disease Outbreaks

In some respects, immunization programs have been a victim of their own incredible success. Because many vaccine-preventable diseases are now uncommon in the United States, you may feel less urgency about getting yourself or your children immunized. You might never have known of a case of diphtheria, polio or tetanus.
You may feel that stringent [...]

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Proof through history

In 1979, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the success of a 10-year program to eradicate smallpox. Smallpox had been a devastating disease for centuries. It killed 30 percent of those who were infected. Most survivors were left with disfiguring scars. Many were blinded from corneal scarring.
When the campaign to wipe out smallpox started [...]

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