How to Immunize Your Child Against Illnesses

Immunizing your child against communicable diseases can protect them from more than 14 diseases that they may be vulnerable to before the age of two years. Vaccines today can protect children from life threatening diseases that would have threatened their families and community. The most common threat to children from vaccine preventable disease is whooping cough that occurs almost every year within United States leading to death in some extreme cases. If parents would have been more careful about vaccinating their children, then nearly 277 deaths between 2000 and 2014 would have been prevented in United States alone. Measles is another common illness in children that spreads easily and can lead to pneumonia in extreme cases.

According to the Center of Disease Control, children should be vaccinated for giving them protection against 14 serious illnesses before they are 2 years old. A detailed schedule is given to all hospitals and clinics about when each vaccine is to be administered, which can protect them from communicable disease in early life when their immune system is low. The biggest advantage of taking these vaccines is that even if there is a slight outbreaks of communicable diseases like measles, influenza, mumps and so on, it is quickly controlled as everyone in the area is immunized.

Types of childhood immunizations

Though the recommended schedule for immunization is between 0 to 2 years, parents can always get them vaccinated till the age of 18 years. Children and adults can get vaccinated at the local healthcare center, which can protect them throughout their lives. As all vaccines are not covered by territorial health plans parents may have to pay for some of them depending on location.

Flu Vaccine

Though people regard common cold and cough as a part of seasonal change, it can cause serious respiratory complications if the immune system of the child is low. In United States, every year both children and elderly people die due to influenza and related complications. To reduce risk of influenza related problems give the flu vaccine to your child that is above six months old. Even adults that have breathing problems or are living in area with chronic health problems should get themselves vaccinated every year before onset of flu season.

Vaccines generally covered by government health plan

HIB Vaccine or DPT Polio - This protects children against six illnesses like tetanus, polio, pertussis, diphtheria and Hib disease.

MMR Vaccine - It provides protection from rubella, mumps and measles.

Hepatitis B vaccine

dTap – It is given to adolescents for protection against pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus.

Chickenpox – Varicella vaccine

Pneumococcal Vaccine – It provides protection for diseases like meningitis, ear problems and pneumonia.

Meningococcal Vaccine – It gives protection against diseases caused by the bacteria meningococcus.

HPV Vaccine – This vaccine is given to girls, to protect them against human papillomavirus, which causes warts in genital region and cervical cancer.

Rotavirus Vaccine – It provides protection to babies and children against diarrhea.

Parents should maintain a medical file for their children from the time they are born till they are teenagers, which will provide all details about vaccines taken, so they can follow up on remaining ones to keep them free from all communicable diseases.

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