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Myths
and Facts About Vaccines
M:
Children get diseases from vaccinations
F:
Vaccines protect children from disease. They stimulate the
body's natural immune system to recognize disease and respond
with prepared antibodies to combat it.
M:
Vaccines cause harmful and permanent side effects
F:
Vaccines are carefully tested to ensure safety. When side
effects
occur they are usually minor.
M:
Vaccines aren't effective
F:
The majority of people (over 95%) who are vaccinated against a
disease develop immunity to it. No medical advance is 100%
effective.
M:
Diseases that we vaccinate against don't exist anymore
F:
Immunization programs have drastically reduced the number of
cases
of disease, but they do still exist. Immunizing your child is
the only way
to be almost certain they won't get sick from those diseases
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Disease
prevention with vaccination is the best way to keep your
child healthy. Waiting until your child is infected is
very risky. Traditionally, treatment based on antibiotics
often works too slowly to avoid the damaging effects of a
disease and harmful bacteria can also develop resistance
to antibiotic treatment.
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The
benefits of vaccinations spill over even to those children who
have
not been vaccinated - this effect is referred to as herd
immunity and
means that even children who have not received the vaccination
receive
some protection once the majority of children have been
vaccinated.
This occurs because vaccinated children resist infection and
decrease
the chances of those who are unprotected from ever being exposed
to
the disease.
Vaccine
research continues to develop with advances in biotechnology
leading to increased efficacy and safety. These new developments
are
particularly important for children and infants whose immune
systems
are still developing and are at highest risk. The benefits and
minimal risks
associated with immunization far outweigh the disease and death
that
would occur without it.
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PEDIATRIC NURSING
