Child Development and Public Health
Immunizations
Prior to 2010, as an adult, I got
immunizations because I was working in a school and it was required for me to
get certain ones (i.e. MMR, Tdap, etc.). I never thought about getting the flu
shot because who wants to be given small dose of the flu in the first place,
right? However, in December of 2010 when my nephew was born, my sister, in the
most loving way possible, let our family know that if we wanted to be around
her newborn son we needed to get the flu shot.
Of course, I wanted to see my one and only nephew, so I got the shot
even though I, like most people, do not like any type of shots or needles. Yes,
my arm becomes a little sore but that is the worst side effect that has ever
come from getting immunizations. I understand
that for some families, they do not immunize their children because of
religious beliefs or because they fear and/or are uncertain about any side effects
that may occur. Plus, after
hearing/reading that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) cause autism, it leaves
them skeptical. Although that side
effect has been found not to be true.
Immunizations help protect the body
from harmful viruses and assist in building up immunity. Immunizations are necessary for both children
and adults. According to Berger (2016), “immunizations
protects not only from temporary sickness but also from complications,
including deafness, blindness, sterility, and meningitis.” Herd immunity is created when a high
percentage of the population is vaccinated such that it is difficult for
infectious diseases to spread. For this
reason, it may impact my future work because it will be less likely for viruses
such as whooping cough, chickenpox, and measles to spread in a school I work at.
In 2017, about 85% of infants
worldwide received 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine. However, an estimated 19.9 million infants did
not have access to these routine immunization services. Around 60% of these children live in 1 of 10
countries, India being one of them (WHO, 2018). “Vaccination coverage varies
considerably from state to state, with the lowest rates in India’s large
central states. Differences in uptake
are geographical, regional, rural-urban, poor-rich and gender related” (UNICEF,
n.d.). UNICEF (n.d.) also states that in
the past few years, there have been some improvements, however India still “accounts
for the largest number of children who are not immunized.”
References:
Berger, K. S. (2016). The
developing person through childhood (7th ed.). New York, NY:
Worth Publishers.
World Health Organization (2018). Immunization coverage.
Retrieved from http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/immunization-coverage
Great resource selection! I have mixed feelings when it comes down to immunizations because of the affects it can have. My one year old recently got his check up and had to receive 5 shots and as a result broke out in hives all over. It scared me because this had never happened before to any of my children. I gave him Benedrly and took him to the emergency room because it looked like he was having an allergic reaction. The report was he did but it wasn't anything serious. I didn't like the fact that it happened but was glad the hives went away but it took three days for them to stop re appearing. So its a 50/50 for me when it comes down to whether they are beneficial or not.
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