Click HERE to join Sophie's Sound Board. Tell us what you think of the music you hear on Sophie @ 103.7.
April: Immunization and Vaccination
Vaccination is one of the great modern medical success stories. If you’re like most parents today, you’ve never known a child who was paralyzed by polio or one who became deaf because of the mumps.
Many vaccine-preventable diseases are now rare in the US—but that doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared. The viruses and bacteria that cause them still exist, and they can be spread to children and adults who haven’t been immunized.
When you are vaccinated, your immune system reacts to the vaccine as if it were encountering the disease. More specifically, your immune system makes disease-fighting antibodies that stay in your body and give you immunity long after the vaccine is eliminated.
If you are exposed to the actual disease, these antibodies will be there to protect you. In other words, vaccines give you immunity to a disease before it has a chance to make you sick.
Like all medicines, vaccines carry a small element of risk. But as a parent, you run a much higher risk by not immunizing your child.
Safeguard your child, your family, and your community. Talk to your family doctor today about immunizing your child.
That’s this month’s 60-seconds to better health, a message from Kaiser Permanente—Live well and thrive!
