My five children, ages 9 to 18, are all up-to-date on their vaccinations. I made sure that we followed the schedule for vaccines that is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. My children are not immuno-compromised, and they are not allergic to the ingredients in any of the vaccines they’ve received, and they have never had a severe reaction to any vaccines. They are all relatively healthy, and getting them vaccinated has helped keep them safe from preventable diseases that can cause permanent damage or death.
The early 1950’s were marked by the spread of communism, the Korean War, and the worst poliovirus outbreak in the history of the United States, according to this article from the Deseret News. Polio was the dreaded childhood disease of that time, it caused permanent paralysis in children who had once been healthy. In 1952 alone, the virus sickened 60,000 children, paralyzed thousands of them, and killed 3,000, according to data reported in NPR’s health news section. After decades of research, a vaccine was developed, and in 1994 it was reported that polio was eliminated in the Americas. The vaccine is still given, due to the risk of the disease being brought in from other countries. With the polio vaccine widely available, however, parents don’t need to worry about their children becoming disfigured or paralyzed by it any more.
Another disease that was eliminated through vaccination is smallpox. The CDC website reports that “in 1980 the World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated.” Smallpox is a disease that affected my family. As a young man, my great-grandfather contracted smallpox. He recovered, but the disease left him sterile. Thankfully, he and my great-grandmother were able to adopt a child, my grandfather, but because they were a bit older when they adopted him, he was their only child.
Measles is another preventable disease that the CDC recommends vaccinations for. 1 in 5 unvaccinated individuals who contract measles will be hospitalized. Measles can cause serious complications for children younger than 5, adults older than 20, and pregnant women. Some of the complications include pneumonia and encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain. 1–3 out of every 1,000 children who contract measles will die from these complications. When people choose not to have their children receive the vaccine for measles, outbreaks occur. In 2018, there were 375 cases of measles reported in the U.S., but in 2018 there were 1,282 cases reported, according to the CDC.
There are children who cannot receive vaccinations due to chronic illness, allergies to vaccine components, or other problems. Some vaccinations cannot be given to children until they reach a certain age, such as the vaccine for measles, which can be given at 12 months old. The DTAP vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis, is given as a serious of four doses, with the first dose administered at 2 months old. As an infant, one of my relatives contracted pertussis, which is also known as whooping cough. He wasn’t old enough to be fully vaccinated against it yet. The disease nearly killed him. He was in and out of the hospital because he struggled to breathe at times. His parents had to call emergency services at least once when he stopped breathing at home. It was a traumatizing time for his parents and siblings, to say the least.
It gives me peace of mind knowing that my children are safe from preventable diseases that can cause serious complications. That is why I choose to keep them up-to-date on their vaccines. I also choose vaccination to protect those who can’t be, or who are too young to be vaccinated.