CHILDHOOD VACCINATION

Childhood Vaccination

Childhood Vaccination

Introduction

Vaccination is a process that artificially confers immunity to an individual against a specific type of disease caused by infectious microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasites). Vaccines work by using the body's ability to remember previous infections (Stratton, 2007). When an individual becomes infected by an infectious organism for the first time, the immune system recognizes and then destroys it by mounting an immune response specific for that organism. Upon an individual's second exposure to the same microorganism, the immune system recognizes and eliminates it by mounting immune responses that occur more rapidly and are greater in magnitude than those induced on the first encounter.

The use of vaccines is one of the few approaches that can prevent a disease from occurring, rather than attempting to cure it after it has developed. In general, the risks for adverse effects to vaccines are considered insignificant compared with the benefits of vaccination. According to the CDC, vaccination rates are at an all-time high, and occurrences of childhood diseases are at an all-time low (Paoletti, 2006). Thus, although few concerns exist, it is clear that vaccine benefits outweigh the risks.

Thus, the infection will not develop to a severe level or to the disease stage. This ability to remember infections, called immune memory, allows people to become immune to a disease after they have caught it once. A vaccine simulates that first infection by exposing an individual to a particular microorganism or portions of that microorganism without causing infection and illness. There are several disease-causing microbes for which vaccines exist.

Thus, these diseases can be prevented. Some of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases are diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, some forms of bacterial meningitis, pneumococcal pneumonia, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, influenza, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis, and rabies (Offit, 2007). However, there are still many diseases for which effective vaccines are not available. Some of these diseases are the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), malaria, and schistosomiasis.

Discussion

Since the conception of vaccines, their use has been strongly debated. Several literature reports claim that vaccines have failed and have sometimes caused adverse reactions. In 1998, the American Medical Association reported that measles, a typical childhood disease, is becoming more prevalent among adults as the immune response to the vaccine eventually wears off. The failure of manufacturers to sometimes do sufficient research before releasing a product became evident when in 1999 the FDA cancelled use of the ...