The research has since been thoroughly debunked, but the number of measles cases has skyrocketed , from just several dozen a year in to over 2, cases in Similar outbreaks have occurred throughout the United States, involving both measles and whooping cough, with doctors and officials blaming low rates of vaccination.
The key to vaccines is injecting the antigens into the body without causing the person to get sick at the same time. Scientists have developed several ways of doing this, and each approach makes for a different type of vaccine.
Live Attenuated Vaccines: For these types of vaccines, a weaker, asymptomatic form of the virus or bacteria is introduced into the body. Because it is weakened, the pathogen will not spread and cause sickness, but the immune system will still learn to recognize its antigens and know to fight in the future.
Inactivated Vaccines: For these vaccines, the specific virus or bacteria is killed with heat or chemicals, and its dead cells are introduced into the body. Even though the pathogen is dead, the immune system can still learn from its antigens how to fight live versions of it in the future. Toxoid Vaccines: Some bacterial diseases damage the body by secreting harmful chemicals or toxins.
For these bacteria, scientists are able to "deactivate" some of the toxins using a mixture of formaldehyde and water. These dead toxins are then safely injected into the body. The immune system learns well enough from the dead toxins to fight off living toxins, should they ever make an appearance. Conjugate Vaccines: Some bacteria, like those of Hib disease , possess an outer coating of sugar molecules that camouflage their antigens and fool young immune systems.
To get around this problem, scientists can link an antigen from another recognizable pathogen to the sugary coating of the camouflaged bacteria. So the best way to protect your kids is through immunization. Babies have stronger immune systems than you might think, and they can handle far more germs than what they receive from vaccines. In fact, the amount of germs in vaccines is just a small percentage of the germs babies' immune systems deal with every day.
Sometimes, kids can have a reaction to a vaccine like a mild fever or rash. But the risk of serious reactions is small compared with the health risks associated with the often-serious diseases they prevent, and do not happen because the baby got several vaccines at once.
A lot of consideration and research went into creating the immunization schedule most doctors use, and it has been proven safe time and time again. Still, some parents choose to use alternative schedules spreading or "spacing out" vaccines because they're concerned about the number of shots their babies get at each checkup. This is actually more likely to make a baby sick. Studies show that many babies on alternative immunization schedules never get all the vaccines they need.
Plus, alternative schedules can be a real hassle. Spacing out vaccines over more doctor visits means that you'll have to take your child to the doctor — and your child will have to get a shot — more often. They greatly reduce your child's risk of serious illness particularly when more and more people are vaccinated and give diseases fewer chances to take hold in a population.
It can be hard to watch kids get a shot, but the short-term pain is nothing compared with suffering through a potentially deadly bout of diphtheria , whooping cough , or measles. Vaccinations are intended to help keep healthy kids healthy. Because vaccines work by protecting the body before disease strikes, if you wait until your child gets sick, it will be too late for the vaccine to work. The best time to immunize kids is when they're healthy. In rare cases, immunizations can trigger more serious problems, such as seizures or severe allergic reactions.
If your child has a history of allergies to food or medicine, or has had a problem with a vaccine before, let the doctor know before any vaccines are given. Every year, millions of kids are safely vaccinated and very few experience serious side effects. Research continually improves the safety of immunizations. The American Academy of Pediatrics AAP now advises doctors to use a diphtheria, tetanus , and pertussis vaccine that includes only specific parts of the pertussis cell instead of the entire killed cell.
This vaccine, called DTaP, has been associated with even fewer side effects. Numerous studies have found no link between vaccines and autism a developmental disorder that's characterized by mild to severe impairment of communication and social interaction skills. Likewise, a groundbreaking report from the Institute of Medicine IOM found that thimerosal an organic mercury compound that's been used as a preservative in vaccines since the s does not cause autism.
Still, some parents have opted not to have their children immunized, putting them at great risk of contracting deadly diseases. The MMR vaccine, especially, has come under fire even though many scientific reports have found no evidence linking the vaccine to autism. In fact, the study that suggested a possible link between autism and the MMR vaccine was retracted in and the doctor who published it lost his medical license.
Hepatitis A. Hepatitis B. Typhoid fever. Whooping cough. Yellow fever. Influenza flu. Vaccine Basics. What is Immunity? Vaccines offer a solution to this problem. For more information, see Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How vaccines work: preventing diseases. Vaccine Basics Home. How Do Vaccines Work? More Information. Section Navigation. Important update: Healthcare facilities. Learn more. To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, get vaccinated as soon as you can and wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.
Updated May 27, Minus Related Pages. You may have side effects after vaccination, but these are normal. It typically takes two weeks after you are fully vaccinated for the body to build protection immunity against the virus that causes COVID If you are not vaccinated, find a vaccine.
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