What is an immunization?
An immunization is an injection, or "shot," of a vaccine, or medicine, that helps to protect your child from dangerous childhood diseases.

Why do children need to be immunized?
Immunizations are an important way to safeguard your child from illness and possible death from infectious diseases.

How do vaccines prevent disease?
Most dangerous diseases are caused by viruses or bacteria. Vaccines generally contain weakened or killed versions of these viruses or bacteria. This helps the body recognize and fight the viruses or bacteria each time that you come into contact with these germs.

Here's how it works:

• After your child receives a vaccine, for a few weeks, his body makes antibodies and memory cells to fight the weakened or dead germs in the vaccine.

• If your child is exposed to the real disease germs, the antibodies can help destroy the germs, preventing your child from becoming ill.

• Even years after your child is vaccinated, the antibodies and memory cells stay on guard to help provide immunity, or protection from disease.

Which vaccines are recommended?
Vaccines exist for

• Diphtheria
  
  
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (a major cause of bacterial meningitis)
  
  
• Hepatitis B
  
  
• Measles
  
  
• Mumps
  
  
• Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
  
  
• Pneumococcal disease (causes bacterial meningitis and blood infections)
  
  
• Polio
  
  
• Rubella (German Measles)
  
  
• Tetanus (Lockjaw)
  
  
• Varicella (Chickenpox)

Some vaccines may not be available in your country. Ask your health care advisor.

When should children be immunized?
In most cases, it is recommended that children be immunized by age 2 years.

It is important for children to receive immunizations when they are young because they are especially susceptible to disease. Although newborn babies are immune to many diseases because they have antibodies passed from their mothers, this immunity lasts a year or less.

How many shots will my child receive?
Since guidelines vary around the world, you should ask your health care advisor about the recommended immunization schedule in your country.

Why do we still need to immunize for diseases that aren't common anymore?
Even when a disease becomes extremely rare because immunizations have helped control it, the viruses and bacteria that cause it still exist.

Although immunizations have allowed some countries to reduce the occurrence of many diseases to very low levels, some diseases are still prevalent in other regions of the world. The germs that cause serious disease can re-enter any country when citizens travel to other regions where the disease still exists. As a result, travelers can unknowingly spread the germs to people who are not protected.

Continuing to immunize is essential to preventing infectious diseases and saving lives.

Are vaccines safe?
Like other prescription medicines, vaccines are subject to years of testing before they are approved for use. Vaccines are only made available once authorities are thoroughly convinced that they are safe and effective in preventing disease.

After they are put into use, vaccines are still continually monitored for safety.

As a result of this careful study and monitoring, vaccines are very safe. Serious adverse reactions to vaccines are very rare-the odds of one occurring are typically one in thousands to one in millions.

Are there any side effects from immunizations?
Side effects from vaccines are usually minor. The most common ones are a slight fever, a rash, and soreness at the injection site.

Can immunizations cause serious health problems?
Serious reactions to vaccines are very rare. The risks from the serious diseases that immunizations prevent are far greater than the risk of a serious reaction to a vaccination.

What are the risks if I don't immunize my child?
If a child is not immunized and is exposed to a disease germ, the child's body may not be strong enough to fight the disease.

Before vaccines, many children were disabled by or died from diseases such as measles and polio. Immunizations help prevent serious illnesses and deaths.

If you do not immunize your child, you are placing him at risk of getting a disease that could be dangerous or even deadly.

Just because we don't see a disease as often doesn't mean that the germs that cause it don't still exist. Immunizations are an important means of protecting your child.