Immunizations Work

National Infant Immunization Week, April 23 – 30, celebrates the success of childhood vaccinations and promotes on time infant immunization.
Routine childhood immunizations save 42,000 lives, prevent 20 million cases of disease, and save $13.6 billion in medical costs.

Vaccines work so well that many people begin to question the benefits of vaccinating their children. The diseases that vaccines prevent are reduced to the point that many parents do not remember when these preventable diseases cost the lives and caused permanent disabilities for thousands of children each year.

Unfortunately, when children are not vaccinated they are at risk for contracting these vaccine preventable diseases, and the herd immunity gained by having all children vaccinated is reduced.

We have seen outbreaks of measles in unvaccinated populations, widespread whooping cough outbreaks, and other preventable disease that spread among unvaccinated populations.

While numerous studies have found no relationship between autism and vaccinations, and the author if the study that started that rumor has been discredited, some parents still wrongly think that autism and vaccinations are linked.

We adults benefited from vaccines when we were children, we need to offer the same benefits to our children.