As a parent or guardian, you want only the best preventive healthcare for your child. One way to help ensure they are protected from illness is by making sure they have all of their vaccinations.
Immunization is both safe and effective. They are only recommended and administered to children after long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and other healthcare professions, and while vaccines can sometimes involve some minimal discomfort or temporary side effects such as redness and tenderness at the site of the injection, these are minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, or trauma of the diseases these vaccines effectively prevent.
Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child
There are several compelling reasons why immunizations are not only recommended, but also vital to maintaining your child’s health:
- They can save your child’s life. Immunizations can now prevent diseases that claimed the lives of millions of children in the past. For example, polio, which once caused death and paralysis, has been eradicated thanks to the polio vaccine.
- They help prevent the spread of diseases to your friends, loved ones, and community. Children who are not fully immunized can transmit certain diseases to other people. For instance, there are approximately 50,000 cases of whopping cough each year, endangering the lives of infants that are too young to be fully vaccinated. Making sure your child is up to date on all their vaccinations helps keep other people they come in contact with healthy.
- They save your family time, money, and hassle. Children with vaccine-preventable diseases are often denied attendance at school and childcare facilities. Whereas these diseases can lead to prolonged disability and result in lost time at work and medical bills for parents, not to mention the need for long-term disability care, immunization avoids these problems and is usually covered by healthcare insurance. Plus, vaccines are provided at no cost to children in low-income families through the federally funded Vaccines for Children program. For more information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/parents.
- They help protect future generations of children. Immunization has reduced and, in some cases, eliminated devastating diseases that were prevalent in previous generations. A perfect example is the smallpox vaccine, which is no longer necessary for children to get because that disease no longer exists. Thanks to the rubella (German measles) vaccine, most pregnant women are no longer at risk of passing the virus to their fetus or newborn, and the birth defects associated with it is no longer a threat. If all parents see to it that their children are fully immunized, many of today’s lingering disease will no longer pose a threat to tomorrow’s children.
Childhood Immunization in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida
At Children’s Medical Center, we believe all children should receive the recommended vaccines, according to the guidelines provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers For Disease Control (CDC). Overwhelming clinical evidence shows that vaccines are safe and effective in preventing diseases and health complications in children and young adults. Regular vaccinations not only help children ward off infections, but are also administered as one of the safest and best methods of disease prevention.
For information about vaccines and the diseases they protect against, please visit www.aap.org or www.cdc.gov.
To schedule an appointment with one of our highly trained and compassionate pediatricians at Children’s Medical Center in Tampa/St. Petersburg. Florida, call one of our locations in Palm Harbor, Westchase, Trinity, or Lutz today.
