About H1N1 vaccine, H1N1vaccine production, H1N1 vaccine manufacturers

by Willem van Bergen

Why Immunize? A Primer for New Parents

Immunizations protect children from serious illness and disease.  By making certain that your children receive the proper immunizations at the proper intervals, you can help keep your child from contracting some of the world’s deadliest diseases.  Your pediatrician or a staff nurse will give your child the immunizations, also called vaccinations, in the form of a shot.  Vaccines don’t protect your child from contracting common colds or other minor illnesses, but they do protect him or her from many serious, often fatal, diseases.

When to Immunize

Babies receive most of their vaccinations between the ages of two and 18 months.  They receive booster shots – injections that boost the efficacy of the initial vaccines – between the ages of four and six years and again between the ages of 11 and 12 years.  Your pediatric physician will provide you with a record of your child’s immunizations.  Keep this record in a safe place, as both private and public schools and many daycare facilities require proof of current immunizations before admitting new children.

How Do Vaccines Work?

Natural Immunity

Healthy babies are born with a full immune system made up of several components:  cells, organs, glands, and fluids.  The immune system helps the body fight against disease causing bacteria and viruses.  It recognizes organisms that gain entry into the body as foreign; the scientific community calls these foreign invaders antigens.  When the immune system detects an antigen, it produces specialized proteins, called antibodies, to fight the invading organisms. A number of antibodies fade away after eliminating the antigens. The cells that produced the antibody against that particular antigen become memory cells. They remember the antigen if it re-enters the body and immediately mobilizes an attack against it, preventing re-infection.  The protection made by this process is called immunity.  A healthy, robust immune system can ward off thousands of attacks daily by producing these antibodies.  A silent defender of the human body; people do not even realize how often the immune system comes to their rescue through this process.

Immunity Through Vaccinations

Vaccines deliver the actual disease causing antigens, or parts of them, into the person receiving them.  But, these antigens are either dead or attenuated so that they lack the strength to really cause the disease.  Even so, the immune system still recognizes them as invading antigens and produces antibodies to fight them.  The resulting memory cells prevent re-infection when exposure to that disease occurs in the future.  Vaccinations cause children to develop immune antibodies without suffering through the actual diseases. Prior to the development of vaccinations, millions of children died from these serious illnesses.

What Diseases Do Vaccinations Protect Against?

Immunizations protect children and adults from some of the most deadly and virulent diseases known:

Hepatitis A & B

Varicella (Chickenpox)

Rubella (German Measles)

Mumps

Measles

Diphtheria

Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

Tetanus

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib disease – a cause of bacterial meningitis)

Pneumococcal disease (a cause of bacterial meningitis and blood borne infections)

Polio

Not only do vaccines protect your child, but they protect the community as well. For example, it protects children with leukemia, who cannot take immunizations and babies too young for certain vaccines.

Can Vaccines Cause Serious Reactions?

Vaccines are very safe, but children sometimes have reactions to them.  The majority of these are minor, such as soreness at the injection site or a low-grade fever.  Although extremely rare, serious reactions can occur.  Discuss the risks with your healthcare provider, but remember that contracting the actual disease is far more perilous to your child than the vaccines.

What About Cost?

Parents without health insurance or who cannot afford a private healthcare provider can obtain immunizations free through a state or local health department.  Those with insurance, or who have the means to pay outright, should make an appointment at a local pediatric clinic and start the immunization process straight away.

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