Every parent wants to do what’s best for their children. Sure, car seats and baby-proofing tools can keep your child safe, but how can you protect your child from harmful diseases? The answer lies in vaccinations.

Prevention is undoubtedly better than cure, and vaccines are the best way to prevent diseases even before they occur. If you are wondering about the importance of vaccinating your child, read ahead for expert advice on the subject.

What Are Vaccines?

Vaccines are an essential part of public health. Take the example of smallpox. The disease killed around 500 million people in the last century, but after vaccines were given to people, the disease was erased from the earth’s surface. Vaccination is a way to build a body’s natural immunity to an illness. This keeps your child from getting and spreading the disease.

For most vaccines, a weakened form of the disease germ is inserted into the body with a shot in the leg, arm, or buttock. The body detects the attacking germs and produces antibodies to battle them. Those antibodies then stay in the body for almost a lifetime. If your child is exposed to the disease after getting vaccinated, their body will fight it off, and they will never suffer because of it.

4 Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child

1. Vaccination is Effective and Safe

Vaccines that are administered on children have been carefully reviewed by doctors, scientists, and healthcare professionals. The side effects of these vaccines are very mild. They might cause redness or swelling at the site of the shot, but other than that, the side effects are nominal compared to the pain, discomfort, and risk of injury and death from the diseases that your child can contract if they are not vaccinated.

2. Vaccines Prevent Diseases from Spreading

If you do not vaccinate your child, they can spread the disease to people with weakened immune systems or other children who are too young to be vaccinated. Transplant recipients and people with cancer have very low immunization and can contract diseases easily. This could result in severe long-term complications or even death.

3. Vaccines Protect Your Child’s Life

The primary benefit of vaccination is that it defends children from severe illnesses and complications of these preventable diseases. These complications can cause limb paralysis, hearing loss, brain impairment, arm or leg amputation, or even death.

An outbreak of preventable diseases occurs when many parents decide not to vaccinate their children. Organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommend and shed light on the importance of vaccinating your child.

4. Vaccination Can Save Your Money and Time

If your child contracts a vaccine-preventable disease, they will most likely be denied attendance at daycare facilities and schools. Some of these preventable diseases can result in long-term disabilities and can take a financial toll. You can lose time at work or end up with medical bills and long-term disability care. Conversely, getting vaccinated against these preventable diseases is usually covered by insurance, so it’s a good investment.

To Sum It Up

If everyone in the world stopped vaccinating, then there would be no end to the diseases. Besides smallpox, all other diseases are still active in some parts of the world, especially in third-world countries that do not have vaccination programs.

Vaccinate your child today by getting in touch with your pediatrician. To book an appointment with a practitioner  at Health One Family Medicine, visit our website or call us at (469)262-5762.