Southwest District Public Health reminds parents that immunizing infants offers protection for all

            During National Infant Immunization Week, April 21-28, Southwest Health District is reminding parents that immunizing children before they are two years old helps ensure all children in their community have a safer and healthier childhood.
            “Immunizations are one of the most important ways parents can protect their children against serious diseases,” said District Immunization Coordinator Sue Dale. “Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death. They not only help protect vaccinated individuals from developing potentially serious diseases, they also help protect entire communities by preventing and reducing the spread of infectious agents.”
            Dale said infants and young children are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases, which is why it is critical that they are protected through immunization.
                “In the 1950s polio was a national obsession. Nearly everyone knew someone disabled by polio. The year 2005 marked the 50th anniversary of the first safe, effective polio vaccine,” she said. “Thanks to Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine, polio is just a distant, unpleasant memory for most of us. We no longer fear a disease that once brought so much suffering.”
            During the 50 years since the polio vaccine was introduced, medical experts have made great strides in protecting children against disease. Vaccines can now offer protection against 13 potentially serious diseases.
            “Today, the world is free of smallpox; polio has been eliminated from the Western Hemisphere and we are on the verge of eradicating polio from the world community,” Dale said. “Rubella, once a major cause of birth defects, has been eliminated in the US. Diseases and death from diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b are at or near record lows.”
            Immunizations are extremely safe thanks to advancements in medical research and ongoing review by doctors, researchers, and public health officials, she added.
            “As guardians of the future, we all have a stake in children’s health. No child should have to suffer and possibly die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” said Dale. “Vaccination is an act of love.”
            Southwest Health District is joining with the federal Centers for Disease Control and the Pan American Health Organization during National Infant Immunization Week to urge parents and caregivers to take responsibility for their child’s vaccinations, become informed consumers and keep a record of each immunization visit.
            For more information about childhood immunizations, parents should contact their healthcare provider or their local health department, or go online to http://www.cdc.gov or the Southwest Health District Web page, www.southwestgeorgiapublichealth.org.