by Chloe McGrath

In honor of National Immunization Awareness Month in August, we wanted to share about the most effective and wildly used health intervention– immunization. Over the past 50 years, immunizations have avoided many diseases, minimized disease transmission, and saved more than a billion lives in the United States.

Vaccines are the simplest and safest forms of preventative treatment, but it is a controversial issue for some people today.

Why is immunization Important?

Measles, whooping cough, influenza, COVID-19, and other diseases still risk millions of lives every year, but each can be prevented by vaccines. Young children with developing immune systems and our elderly loved ones with immunocompromised systems are the most vulnerable. They do not have the level of defense we may have to fight off infections and deadly diseases. Think about your family and your friends; we all have a social responsibility to protect them and others by getting vaccinated.

What happens when you do not get vaccinated?

Vaccines help minimize the spread of diseases. If you are not immunized, you run the risk of not just getting it yourself but affecting others. Consequently, a small outbreak within a community can have the potential to spread swiftly to an entire population or a whole region, causing a pandemic like our recent COVID-19 pandemic.

How Vaccines Work

When you receive a vaccine, your body starts to build immunity. Minor symptoms may result after vaccination, but this does not indicate that the vaccine is defective. Vaccinations provide our bodies with lymphocytes that help us fight diseases; however, the body often takes a few weeks following vaccination to naturally start producing them. Depending on when you received your last vaccination and how much you are at risk of developing a new disease, immunization may occasionally require more than one dose.

How are Vaccines Safe?

The federal government, scientists, and doctors thoroughly evaluate all vaccines to ensure the effectiveness and safety before they are clear for use.

Benefits of Immunizing

Vaccines not only protect your loved ones, but also the loved ones of others. Additional benefits include:

Positively influences personal health

Vaccines are reliable and secure

Insurance covers most immunizations

Mitigates the spread of diseases

For further information about vaccines, contact your healthcare provider. You may want to verify vaccine coverage with your insurance provider. They will work with you to keep you informed about any immunizations you might need to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Protecting your Immunocompromised Loved Ones with Home Care

As we have learned through the COVID-19 pandemic, viruses can pass from person to person, exposing individuals with a specific disease, passed through droplets in the air from breathing, talking, and eating.  They can also spread the virus by touching something previously touched by someone who had transferred the viruses from their eyes, nose or mouth to their hand. Therefore, to protect your loved one from contagious and threatening viruses, the easiest and safest way is to keep your loved one at home.  Through home care, you can reduce the exposure to catching viruses by staying home.  Home care allows for minimal contact while getting the help and companionship your loved one needs.  At Assisting Hands Rockford, we recognize that protecting your loved one is your top priority so give us a call to see how we can help at 815-884-CARE.

Sources

“Adult Vaccination.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 July 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/index.html

CDC. “Understanding How Vaccines Work.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 May 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/understanding-vacc-work.html

Doherty, Mark, et al. “Vaccine Impact: Benefits for Human Health.” Vaccine, Elsevier, 20 Oct. 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X16309434?via%3Dihub

“Importance of Vaccines.” Vaccine Basics – Importance of Vaccines, 2021, https://vaccineinformation.org/vaccines-save-lives/

Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP). “Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child.” HHS.gov, 6 May 2022, https://www.hhs.gov/immunization/get-vaccinated/for-parents/five-reasons/index.html

“Top Ten Reasons to Protect Your Child by Vaccinating – Immunize.org.” Importance of Vaccines, 2021, https://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4016.pdf