All of these diseases sound dreadful, and to be honest they are. Thankfully, we have vaccines at our disposal that protect us and our loved ones from such deadly and dangerous diseases. Read below to learn about the things that your immunizations are protecting you against!
- Polio is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease that is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis. Polio was eliminated in the United States with vaccination, and continued use of polio vaccine has kept this country polio-free. But, polio is still a threat in some other countries. Making sure that infants and children are vaccinated is the best way to prevent polio from returning.
- Tetanus causes painful muscle stiffness and lockjaw and can be fatal. Parents used to warn kids about tetanus every time we scratched, scraped, poked, or sliced ourselves on something metal. Nowadays, the tetanus vaccine is part of a disease-fighting vaccine called DTaP, which provides protection against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough).
- Flu is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus that infects the nose, throat, and lungs. Flu can affect people differently based on their immune system, age, and health. Did you know that flu can be dangerous for children of any age? Flu symptoms in children can include coughing, fever, aches, fatigue, vomiting, and diarrhea. Every year in the United States, otherwise healthy children are hospitalized or die from flu complications. CDC estimates that since 2010, flu-related hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years have ranged from 7,000 to 26,000 in the United States. It’s important to know that children younger than 6 months are more likely to end up in the hospital from flu, but are too young to get a flu vaccine. The best way to protect babies against flu is for the mother to get a flu vaccine during pregnancy and for all caregivers and close contacts of the infant to be vaccinated. Everyone 6 months and older needs a flu vaccine every year.
- Did you know that worldwide more than 780,000 people per year die from complications to Hepatitis B? Hepatitis B is spread through blood or other bodily fluids. It’s especially dangerous for babies, since the hepatitis B virus can spread from an infected mother to child during birth. About nine out of every 10 infants who contract it from their mothers become chronically infected, which is why babies should get the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth.
- The Hepatitis A vaccine was developed in 1995 and since then has cut the number of cases dramatically in the United States. Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease and is transmitted through person-to-person contact or through contaminated food and water. Vaccinating against hepatitis A is a good way to help your baby stay Hep A-free and healthy!
- Rubella is spread by coughing and sneezing. It is especially dangerous for a pregnant woman and her developing baby. If an unvaccinated pregnant woman gets infected with rubella, she can have a miscarriage or her baby could die just after birth. Also, she can pass the disease to her developing baby who can develop serious birth defects.
- Hib (or its official name, Haemophilus influenzae type b) isn’t as well-known as some of the other diseases, thanks to vaccines. Hib can do some serious damage to our a child’s immune systems and cause brain damage, hearing loss, or even death. Hib mostly affects kids under five years old. Before the vaccine, over 20,000 kids were infected each year. That’s about 400 yellow school busses worth of kids! Of these kids, one in five suffered brain damage or became deaf. Even with treatment, as many as one out of 20 kids with Hib meningitis dies. Get your child vaccinated to help them beat the odds!
- Did you know your child can get measles just by being in a room where a person with measles has been, even up to two hours after that person has left? Measles is very contagious, and it can be serious, especially for young children. Because measles is common in other parts of the world, unvaccinated people can get measles while traveling and bring it into the United States.
- Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease that can be deadly for babies. Whooping cough can cause uncontrollable, violent coughing, which often makes it hard to breathe. Its “whooping” name comes from the sharp breath intake sound right after a coughing fit. In babies, this disease also can cause life-threatening pauses in breathing with no cough at all. Whooping cough is especially dangerous to babies who are too young to be vaccinated themselves. Mothers should get the whooping cough vaccine during each pregnancy to pass some protection to their babies before birth. It is very important for your baby to get the whooping cough vaccine on time so he can start building his own protection against the disease. Since 2010, between 15,000 and 50,000 cases of whooping cough were reported each year in the United States, with cases reported in every state.
- This disease is caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae. It causes ear infections, sinus infections, pneumonia, and even meningitis, making it very dangerous for children. The germs can invade parts of the body—like the brain or spinal cord—that are normally free from germs.
- Rotavirus is contagious and can cause severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain, mostly in infants and young children. Children can become severely dehydrated from the disease and need to be hospitalized. If a dehydrated child does not get needed care, they could die.
- Mumps is best known for causing puffy cheeks and a swollen jaw. This is due to swelling of the salivary glands. Other symptoms include fever, head and muscle aches, and tiredness. Mumps is a contagious disease and there is no treatment. Mumps is still a threat today—every year, people in the United States get mumps. In recent years, mumps outbreaks have occurred in settings where there was close, extended contact with infected people, such as being in the same classroom or playing on the same sports team.
- Chickenpox is a disease that causes an itchy rash of blisters and a fever. A person with chickenpox may have a lot of blisters—as many as 500 all over their body. Chickenpox can be serious and even life-threatening, especially in babies, adults, and people with weakened immune systems. Even healthy children can get really sick.
- Most of us only know diphtheria as an obscure disease from long ago, thanks to the diphtheria vaccine babies get. This vaccine, called DTaP, provides protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough). While preventable, diphtheria does still exist. It can cause a thick covering in the back of the nose or throat that makes it hard to breathe or swallow. Diphtheria can also lead to heart failure, paralysis, and even death.
This information is brought to you by the Center for Disease Control. You can find more information here!
We are on your team and we are eager to help your protect your family against such deadly diseases. One thing you can do is be sure that your child makes it to their routine well-child exams. In the chart below, you will see a list of when your child should receive their well-child exam. It also lists the immunizations your child will receive at each specific visit!