Articles - Your Well Child
Vaccinations are an important part of keeping children healthy. Over the years since vaccines have been developed some of the most deadly and devastating childhood illnesses have been eradicated, nearly eradicated, or significantly lessened. We no longer see smallpox. As a matter of fact, that vaccine has not been needed for over 20 years. Polio is very close to being eradicated, measles occurances are diminishing, and Haemophilus influenza B meningitis has almost disappeared. Vaccination has been so successful that there are now some people that fear the vaccine more than they fear the illness that the vaccine prevents. This could only happen if these people have never seen the devastation that these illnesses used to cause. The days of worrying that your child will become paralyzed from polio are gone. The suffering and death or disability of thousands of children a year from bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenza B is gone and from Pneumococcus will be gone from the recent introduction an effective Pneumococcal vaccine. Through the history of medicine and public health, very few things have made a significant impact on the health and welfare of children. At the top of that list is vaccination. This section will show the newest and most up to date vaccine schedule for infants. A video about vaccination is presented, pictures showing children with vaccine preventable illnesses are shown (WARNING: These picture are very graphic), and each vaccine will be linked to a discussion about the illness that the vaccine prevents.