Why Are Childhood Vaccinations So Important?
Dr. Raymond Deeb and Dr. Ashley Brown at Briarcliff Pediatrics provide a wide variety of children’s health care services, ranging from routine well-child check-ups to immediate medical care for kids. However, perhaps the most important of these services is childhood vaccination. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), immunization currently averts an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths every year, mostly among children, and it is widely recognized as one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions. However, some questions have arisen about the use and potential side effects of vaccines, leading to a great deal of unwarranted confusion. At Briarcliff Pediatrics, we know that vaccines are safe, effective, and readily available, but we also understand that myths about them can sometimes discourage parents from immunizing their children. We believe that giving parents the real facts about immunization is a vital part of any childhood wellness plan. So, in the first of this two part series, we will explain exactly how vaccines work and why they are so important.
Although they may seem complicated, vaccines are simply a way to help stimulate and strengthen your body’s natural immune system. When harmful bacteria or viruses enter the body, antibodies are produced to fight the invaders and protect against further infection. Usually these antibodies are so efficient that people never even know they were exposed to a disease. However, the very first time that the body faces a particular invader it may take several days to ramp up this antibody response. In the case of particularly dangerous antigens, like the measles virus or whooping cough bacteria, a few days may be too long. The infection can spread and cause permanent damage (and potentially even death) before the immune system has a chance to fight back.
Childhood immunizations work by effectively giving the body’s immune system a head start. Because they are made from dead or weakened antigens, they can’t actually cause an infection, but the immune system still sees them as an enemy and produces antibodies in response. Then specialized immune cells, called memory cells, remain in the body ready to start producing new antibodies whenever those particular antigens are encountered again. This means that once you have been immunized against a specific disease, your body can easily resist it before it has a chance to do any real damage. For some diseases, this immunization can last a lifetime, while in others periodic “booster” treatments may be required. In either case, you get all the benefits of having fought off the disease without having to experience the unpleasant and potentially life-threatening symptoms.
What many people do not realize is that vaccines can also potentially provide benefits to the community as a whole. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are a very small number of individuals who should not be vaccinated, usually because they have been born with serious allergies or congenital conditions that leave their immune systems compromised. If these individuals come into contact with dangerous diseases, the results could be very serious. However, if everyone around them has already been vaccinated, they are highly unlikely to ever come into contact with these diseases and so are effectively protected. Even though there may have been virtually no reported cases of these diseases in several decades, they are still out there, which is why maintaining high rates of childhood vaccinations is so important.
Vaccinations have gone a long way toward eradicating many very serious childhood illnesses, but we still have a great deal of work to do. The World Health Organization estimates that an additional 1.5 million deaths could be avoided every year if global vaccination coverage was further improved. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Deeb and Dr. Brown follow the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine schedule for the children in our practice. If you have any additional questions about childhood vaccinations, or are interested in learning more about us, we welcome you to come in for a complimentary meet and greet so that you can talk in person with Dr. Deeb or Dr. Brown and get a tour of our newly renovated office. Just contact Briarcliff Pediatrics to schedule an appointment. Don’t forget to follow us on social media to get up to date health tips and the latest news in children’s health care.
