NEPA Vital Signs - Summer Fall 2018 - 31

SUMMER/ FALL 2018

Vaccines and Children
WHAT EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW

uring the recent holiday season parents spent a lot of
time (and money) finding just the right gifts for their children. What many of them may not realize is that they've
already given their children one of the most important gifts they
will ever receive: vaccination to protect them from disease. For
many centuries, illnesses that are now prevented with vaccination
caused millions of deaths around the world, in adults and children. Just a generation ago, most Americans knew a family who
had lost a child to measles or pertussis (whooping cough). Most
people of that era also knew someone who had been paralyzed
for life by childhood polio. In this article, we will discuss what
vaccines are, how they work, and why vaccination of children is
especially important . We'll also cover some of the diseases that
vaccines protect children from and review some potential side
effects, both real and imagined, caused by vaccination.

immunizing agent is what the patient's immune system responds
to. It fools the immune system into mounting a response against
the fake "foreign invader" without causing the actual illness.
This allows patients to either fight off the viral or bacterial
infection entirely when they get exposed, or at least be able to
get a milder infection that is easier to overcome and no longer
potentially deadly. Vaccines can also contain an adjuvant, which
is a material such as aluminum salts that improves immune
response to the immunizing agent. Vaccines also frequently
contain preservatives to prevent bacterial or fungal contamination. Stabilizers such as sugars (sucrose), amino acids (glycine),
or proteins (gelatin) are added to vaccines to ensure that the
vaccine maintains its potency throughout the manufacturing
process. Some patients can have allergic reactions to these
vaccine components.

Vaccines are pharmaceutical products
developed over years of research and Just a generation ago, most Americans knew a family who had lost
testing which are formulated to "trick" a
patient's immune system into producing a child to measles or pertussis (whooping cough). Most people of
immunity against a particular serious ill- that era also knew someone who had been paralyzed for life by
ness, usually caused by a bacteria or virus. childhood polio.
When a child becomes infected with an
illness naturally, the child becomes sick
and their immune system recognizes the bacteria or virus as
Obviously, preventing severe illness and death in infants and
a foreign invader and mounts a response comprised of bloodchildren is important, but it's only part of the story. As we'll
stream antibodies and white blood cells which, hopefully, can
explain, many vaccine-preventable diseases which affect children
defeat the illness and the child recovers. Part of this process
are also dangerous for adults. Children who are ill shed large
allows the immune system to remember the particular invader
amounts of the virus or bacteria that they are infected with in
and fight it more effectively the next time the child is exposed
various ways, through coughing, sneezing, vomiting and other
to it. Although children's immune systems are particularly
unpleasant means. Adults with poor immune systems due to
good at developing memory antibodies to fight an infection
disease or old age can catch the illness from children and suffer
compared to an adult's immune system, sometimes they don't
sickness or death. High childhood immunization rates help keep
get the chance. Unfortunately, some serious infections can
susceptible adults healthy. Keeping illnesses out of the population
be deadly, especially to infants and children whose nervous
also prevents disease in children who can't be immunized for valid
systems, hearts and lungs may not be developed enough to
reasons. Some vaccines don't work well in very young children.
survive the infection.
Also, children under 1 year of age have some of their mother's
antibodies in their blood, which can give partial immunity against
A particular vaccine consists of multiple ingredients. First is
illness like measles and chickenpox. Those antibodies counterthe actual "immunizing agent" which can be a live attenuated
act vaccines for measles and varicella (chickenpox), so children
(weakened) virus, a killed virus, a portion of a bacteria or virus,
under 1 year old can't get effectively vaccinated . The protective
or a group of proteins from an infecting microorganism. This
antibodies they get from their mother aren't very effective,
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VITAL SIGNS

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