Vaccination for diseases and allergies - Why they are crucial for your children

The noise around vaccinations has never been this louder because of the pandemic. Don’t let this noise distract you from the other vaccines for children, especially if you are a parent. There is another kind of noise around vaccines by certain ‘woke’ communities. They urge you against taking vaccines. Do not let this noise make you have second thoughts about vaccines. 

The reason is simple! The vaccines concept dates to the 18th century and has undergone significant medical and technological changes ever since. Most importantly, vaccines have saved billions of lives.

Stay with us until the end of the blog to understand why immunization is crucial for children. Also, it discusses different types of vaccination for children, how it works, and how to prevent different diseases and allergies in children.

What is immunization? 

The process of immunization is probably the simplest yet effective medical innovation that protects a child’s or adult’s life or life-quality, preventing a serious health issue. WHO estimates vaccines are preventing around 200,0000 - 300,0000 deaths every year caused by pneumonia, rubella, polio, smallpox, diphtheria, measles, tetanus, rotavirus diarrhoea, and mumps.    

How does it work?

The concept behind vaccination is pretty simple. The inactive form of virus or bacteria is injected into the body, triggering a series of actions from the immune system. The immunity system creates antibodies irrespective of the inactiveness of the injected virus or bacteria. When the actual virus or bacteria enters the body, the immunity system and the strong antibodies fight and kill the infections and prevent diseases.

Why is vaccination the best thing you could ever do for your children?

Not all children are born with enough immunity to fight serious health issues. Most of the diseases that vaccines prevent have no medical treatment post-occurrence. Vaccination also prevents your children from developing various allergies. The famous saying ‘prevention is better than cure’ could not be truer in the context of vaccines for diseases that have no cure.

●     Immunization is always a better choice in any scenario, both for children and adults. Vaccinated people not only protect themselves from contracting a disease but also help in preventing it.

●     Vaccination is essential for children who are born with immunity related issues. Not only do the vaccines make it up for the child but also prevents auto-immune diseases which could be fatal.

●     The cost of treatment is skyrocketing in today’s health world. Vaccines cost less than a fraction, compared to the post-disease-occurrence treatment. In fact, most vaccines are offered free of cost.

●     Vaccines have prevented and eradicated tens of diseases in India including Polio, which is even considered to be a great victory in the history of humankind.

What’s the relationship between vaccines and auto-immune diseases?

Auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoidarthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Guillain-Barre syndrome, psoriasis is considered chronic conditions. Early immunization, by strengthening the immunity system, helps the person in reducing the risk of most of these conditions.

Despite having the weight of reason for everyone to get vaccinated, there is considerable resistance from certain communities against vaccination. There are literally anti-vaccine drives and literature that are published in almost every part of the world. Let's bust some common myths around vaccination and reveal the facts.

Myth: Vaccines are not safe

Fact: The process of developing a vaccine for a certain condition undergoes multiple trials, tests and excruciating scrutiny at various levels from various aspects. People can trust and take vaccines without any inhibitions.

Myth: Vaccines cause autism in children

Fact: There is no link between vaccines and autism. It started with ‘The Lancet MMR autism fraud’ committed by Andrew Wakefield who was a physician but against vaccines. He was found guilty of serious misconduct for his research published in 1998.

Myth: Vaccines cause diabetes in children 

Fact: Vaccines, in fact, prevent diabetes and other auto-immune diseases by rooting for a strong immunity system. There is no connection between vaccines and diabetes in children. 

Myth: Immunity through the disease is stronger than vaccines

Fact: The antibodies show the same characteristics in front of a real virus and vaccinated virus, so there is no truth to it. Parents who succumb to this type of thinking are simply putting their children at greater risk.

Myth: Vaccines cause vitamin deficiency in children

Fact: Just another myth. Vitamin deficiency is something that is observed in cases of lack of a nutritious diet and poor diet choices.

Immunized children help establish a healthier community for the future generation. Give your children the ‘vaccine accesses to a better life by immunizing them.

Consult FIMS, the best pediatric hospital in Coimbatore, for a better understanding of vaccines and to know more about vaccination for children.