Should You Vaccinate Your Child?

23 October 2017

Jaime Allen

With so much talk about whether you should or should not vaccinate your child, it's easy for a new parent to struggle between deciphering the facts and the myths. If you are wondering if you should vaccinate your child, check out these three amazing reasons vaccinations are important tools to protect your child and others too.

It Prevents Deadly Diseases

You usually can't get the same viral infection twice. Yes, every year, you may get a cold, but it isn't the same viral strain from the previous cold. This is because when you get sick with the measles, for example, your body creates antibodies to fight the disease. When the body wins, the antibodies stick around, making you immune from catching it again. Vaccines work in the exact same way except you don't get sick. You don't have to suffer through surviving the measles because the vaccine tricks your body into thinking you have the disease, so your body makes the antibodies.

Mandatory vaccines for children typically include measles, polio, chicken pox, whooping cough and others. Scientists created vaccines for these diseases for a reason: they can kill or severely harm children for life. Another reason to consider protecting your child from diseases with vaccines is to protect younger children and those who can't get vaccines for medical reasons. By vaccinating your child, there is no fear that your kid will get sick and transfer the disease to an unprotected kid before you even know anyone is sick.

Breast Feeding Isn't Enough

Young babies are the most vulnerable to disease because their immune systems are still so new. Your immune system is a highly complicated system that works much like an army, but you have to build the army. Each time you recover from an illness, your immune system is stronger because it has more antibodies to fight against other diseases. Therefore, babies don't have a strong army, which is why breastfeeding, if possible, is important. When a mother breastfeeds her child, it transfers some antibodies to the baby to help fight common illnesses, such as a cold, which could be deadly to a baby.

Some people theorize that breastfeeding is enough. If the mother has antibodies to fight diseases, such as chicken pox and polio, then the baby is protected, but that isn't true. The transfer is only temporary to protect the baby while their immune system builds naturally. Plus, it still doesn't protect completely, which is why even babies who breastfeed frequently get colds and influenza.

They Are Safe

The argument against vaccines claims they are not safe and cause autism, but this has been debunked. Unfortunately, too many parents still believe this myth. They believe that it is safer to allow children to develop immunities naturally. In other words, they believe it's safer for kids to get measles, whooping cough, chicken pox and many others to build immunity. While it is a good idea to let your child build their immune system, it should not be done with diseases that can easily kill children.

Another problem with this theory is that because these diseases have been gone for so long, your child may not have the right antibodies already to really help fight the disease, making them more susceptible to death or serious side effects. The side effects of vaccinations tend to include soreness at the injection site, and a low-grade fever. On the other hand, the side effects of letting your kids get these illness naturally include paralysis, brain injury and death.

If you have a young child, you should start talking to your family doctor about vaccinations to protect your child from deadly diseases. If you would like more information regarding necessary and recommended vaccinations, contact a family doctor today. 

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