Family and Child Health
Vaccination and Your Child
There is no reason to watch your child suffer from a childhood disease if there is a good way to prevent it. And there are ways to prevent many of the conditions that used to be a common part of growing up. Vaccines have proven their effectiveness against childhood diseases time after time. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Why vaccinate?Vaccination is still the best way to protect your child against many serious childhood infectious diseases. And, thanks to vaccines, childhood diseases no longer have to be a normal part of growing up.
Vaccination and antibiotic resistanceSome of the childhood diseases prevented by vaccines are caused by viruses, while others are caused by bacteria. If a child becomes infected with bacteria, treatment with antibiotics normally eliminates the infection. Lately, however, antibiotics that used to work well to treat infections are suddenly no longer working. Find out more about the threat of antibiotic resistance.
Knowing when to vaccinateIt's easy to make vaccination a part of your child's growing up. A general vaccination schedule can tell you exactly what vaccines your child should receive, and when.
Vaccine safetyThe dangers of diseases that could have been prevented with vaccines are many times greater than the risks of a serious reaction to the vaccine. But how safe are vaccines?
