Infant Immunization Week: Why Are Vaccinations for Children Important?

April 27-May 4, 2019, is  National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW). This year, we’ll explore what NIIW is, and why vaccinations for children are so important.

This small facet of the World Health Organization’s larger overall World Immunization Week (WIW) gives us the chance to re-focus on the importance of vaccines.

NIIW is also the perfect time to dispel many of the myths associated with inoculating infants that cause parents to second-guess vaccinations.

What Is National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW)?

According to the NIIW, this week is “an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases”

In a country where anti-vaxxer attitudes are rapidly leading to the resurgence of potentially fatal diseases, like measles and whooping cough, this is a critical opportunity.

In today’s post, we’ll start by explaining why vaccinations for children are so essential for your little ones.

Then, we’ll talk a bit about the most common vaccines and the standard inoculation schedule for children under the age of 5.

Lastly, we’ll tell you what you need to know about post-vaccination symptoms – and why they aren’t as scary as you think.

About Your Infant’s Immune System

The human body is equipped with a system of cells and and proteins that “fight off” and eliminate harmful intruders from the outside world.

In a healthy, full-grown adult, white blood cells will seek out and actively destroy bad bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens in an effort to protect the body from harm.

In infants, this system isn’t fully-functioning – at least not right after birth. It actually takes several years for the immune system to mature.

In order for the immune system to learn how to fight off illnesses, it must either:

• Be exposed to them directly or,
• Receive antibodies from an outside source

Little ones receive these antibodies via placental transfer during pregnancy, and later, via breast milk.

By age two, maternal antibodies fade significantly. The infant’s immune system has to take up the job of protecting them from illnesses; yet, it still isn’t as strong as a healthy adult’s immune system.

This makes infants and toddlers much more susceptible to disease – especially infections.

How Do Vaccinations Work?

Most inoculations contain dead, deactivated, or weakened versions of the viruses and bacteria that make people sick. For example, the flu vaccine contains a dead version of the most common flu strain for any given year.

The viruses and bacteria in vaccinations aren’t strong enough to make you sick, but your immune system still recognizes them for what they are.

The immune system can then launch an immune response, producing antibodies that teach it how to fight off the germ in a more effective manner.

Because the virus or bacteria has been weakened or deactivated, it can’t fight back – making it far more likely that the body can effectively fight it off and create the right antibodies the first time around.

The vaccinated person becomes fully or partially immune to the germ, depending on which illness you’re inoculating for.

Why Are Vaccinations for Children So Important?

Plainly put – vaccinations for children keep infants and toddlers safe and help protect them from potentially deadly diseases. This includes:

• Measles
• Chicken pox
• Mumps
• Rubella
• Whooping cough
• Polio
• Diphtheria
• Hepatitis
• Pneumonia
• Flu

Contrary to popular belief, all of these disease can cause severe illness and even death, especially in infants who do not yet have a fully functioning immune system.

In fact, around 11,000 people die from chickenpox each year in the United States. Another 36,000 die from complications associated with the flu. A significant portion of these cases are, unfortunately, associated with early infanthood and toddlerhood.

Vaccines for Children

By vaccinating your child, you help your little one’s body learn how to fight off diseases.

The next time their immune system encounters that illness, it will have the tools to prevent them from becoming severely ill – potentially saving their life.

But there are also more practical reasons to vaccinate, too:

• Children who are vaccinated experience a lower need for time away from school or recreation due to illness.
• They also require fewer visits to the doctor, have lower hospital bills, and cause less financial strain for parents, who may have to take time away from work to care for the child when they become ill.

Another Reason to Vaccinate: The Role of Herd Immunity

The second most important reason to vaccinate your child – aside from protecting them from serious harm – is to add to your community’s herd immunity rate.

But what exactly is herd immunity?

Vaccines work best when at least 95 percent of the population is vaccinated; this is referred to as “herd immunity.”

When nearly everyone has been vaccinated for a specific disease, it becomes much more difficult for small outbreaks to turn into large-scale epidemics.

This ensures people who have legitimate reasons to not vaccinate, such as allergies, HIV/AIDs, or chemotherapy-associated immunodeficiency, remain protected at all times.

Vaccination Schedule for Children Under 5

You know now that vaccinations for children are important to your child’s overall health, and the health of your local community.

But which vaccinations for children are the most important? Do infants really need all of those shots when they’re so little?

As a parent, it can feel overwhelming to see your little one need so many vaccinations in a short period of time. But these vaccinations for children are only high in number because they form your little one’s initial “core immunity.”

As time goes on, your child will require fewer and fewer vaccinations, eventually needing only the occasional booster and/or any new vaccines discovered by medicine.

To understand which vaccines your child needs prior to age five, see the the CDC’s easy-to-read chart for parents shown below.

Using the chart is simple; just find the child’s age using the information at the top of the page. Then, look underneath the age to find a list of recommended vaccines for that particular age group.

Yellow-shaded cells indicate the vaccine can be given at any point within that age range; unshaded cells indicate the vaccine should be given at a specific age instead.

Examples of the CDC Recommended Vaccination Schedule

Here’s an example: you can see that the CDC recommends infants receive the Hepatitis B shot at birth. They receive a second Hep B booster at some point between one and two months of age.

Your local pharmacy or pediatrician can help with all of these.

When they are officially two months old, the CDC recommends being vaccinated for:

• Rotavirus (RV)
• Diphtheria and Pertussis (DTaP)
• Haemophilus influenzae (HiB)
• Pneumonia (given as the Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV13)
• Polio (given as the Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV)

But What About Side Effects and Risks?

There’s a  lot of misinformation out there about vaccinations for children. In fact, much of the information that spreads online about the dangers of vaccines is downright false.

The truth is that science proves vaccines are low-risk and remarkably effective at preventing serious illness or death.

All medications – including vaccines – have a very small risk of causing harm in some patients.

The most common vaccine “side effects” are redness and irritation at the injection site; this is usually caused by the needle or the diffusion of the formula throughout local tissues, rather than a toxic ingredient. After vaccinations, some children may also experience:

• Low-grade fever
• Restlessness
• Nausea and vomiting

However, it is critical to note that this is not caused by the vaccination; it’s a symptom of the body launching an immune response, instead.

As strange as it might seem, that low-grade fever means the vaccine is effective!

As for severe reactions, the risk of experiencing a problem of this magnitude after inoculation is infinitesimally small. In fact, most research shows you have a better chance of winning the lottery.

In reality, most patients who react poorly to vaccines are really either allergic to an ingredient in the vaccine and/or have unique genetic conditions that inhibit the body’s ability to process the ingredients.

Conclusion

This National Infant Immunization Week, take some time to research the importance of vaccinations for children.

At the end of the day, every decision to use medication – including vaccines – comes down to risk versus benefit.

In almost all cases, the risks associated with getting inoculated are much, much lower than the risk of getting sick.

If you have further questions or concerns regarding vaccinations for children, contact Burt’s Pharmacy and Compounding Lab today.