Me personally I am very much pro immunisation.
Having nursed children with these preventable diseases I really can't believe anybody would willingly allow their child to be exposed!
There are recorded success due to immunisation predominantly Smallpox eradicated many years ago.
So what do we need to vaccinate against?
Each country will have a different schedule for vaccination but this involves timing and combination vaccines.
The basic diseases your need to protect your child against:
1.Pertussis/Whooping Cough. Still definitely around. Us adults are often the ones who initially contract the infection and pass it to the very young babies. This is due to the fact that for most us our last vaccine was at age 18mnths!!! This means our immunity has waned.
2. Heamophyllis influenza Type B-Nothing to do with flu! A particularly nasty infection that causes pneumonia and meningitis.
3.Polio- Eradicated in several countries but still prevalent in Pakistan,India,Afghanistan and Nigeria.With worldwide travel we still can be exposed.
4.Diphtheria.- Thankfully cases on the decline but every now and then a case still occurs.
5.Tetanus-This one most people are familiar with it is a good idea to protect baby early .As any mother knows scratches and scrapes happen easily especially in the toddler years.This is how tetanus can enter the body.
6.Hepatitis B- If a person contracts this disease they have a high risk of developing a specific liver
Cancer
TO FOLLOW Immunisation schedules for the different countries.
Other diseases we can prevent.
USA Schedule
Canadian Schedule
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
France
Other diseases we can prevent through Immunisation
1.Rotovirus: An infection that causes diarrhoea most of us have had this several times in our life. The concern with babies is that they dehydrate very quickly. This dehydration can be fatal if not treated early.
2. Pneumococcal - This infection can cause meningitis and pneumonia. It also is a know cause of middle ear infections. The vaccine is to prevent the more serious infections and has limited protection against middle ear infections.
3.Measles- This disease still kills children worldwide and is a must for vaccination.
4.Chickenpox- This one is debatable .My own kids were not vaccinated as I was not aware of the vaccine at the time. My son was 3 when he got it but the problem came when he passed it on to his brother who was only 6 months old at the time.Although it happens rarely, children can still die from chickenpox.
More later...
One of the most controversial vaccines is the MMR .This is the combined measles,mumps rubella vaccine.
Some people in the past have blamed the vaccine for causing Autism.It is very sad that ultimately nobody knows what causes Autism.A country a few years ago stopped vaccinating worth MMR and there autism rates continued to rise.
The recommended age for this vaccine is 15-18 mnths. A diagnosis of autism is normally made before age of two. I would advise anybody who has serious concerns or worries to wait until after age 3 to vaccinate. It is definitely beneficial. As stated above Measles still kills. Rubella is dangerous to women who are pregnant as it can cause severe fetal abnormalities.Mumps may in rare cases cause infertility in adolescent boys.
Before making a decision aboutvaccinations
talk to your health care provider, family your mom. Make an informed decision.
