DT Health: Why kids must be vaccinated against contagious diseases

Vaccines are products that are usually given in childhood to protect against serious and often deadly diseases. By stimulating the body's natural defenses, they prepare your body to fight disease faster and more effectively. Vaccines are very safe and any child is far more likely to be hurt by a vac- cine preventable disease than by a vaccine. All vaccines go through rigorous safety testing including clinical trials before they are approved for children.

The vaccines under the Universal Immunization Programme can save lives. The measles vaccine alone is estimated to have prevented over 21 million deaths between 2000-2017. 

It is important to vaccinate, if not highly contagious diseases like measles, diphtheria, and polio which were eradicated in many countries, will show resurgence. 

Many parents worry that multiple vaccines will overload their child's immune system, but the truth is it does not. Even if the disease may be eliminated in our country, our increasingly interconnected world means that these diseases could spread from areas where they are still present.

There are several concerns related to the vaccination of children as they are believed to cause minor health issues such as fever and cold or others. It is a fact that vaccines are extremely safe and serious side effects are rare. Almost all sickness or discomfort after vaccination is minor or temporary.

The vaccines can be life-saving as they can prevent numerous diseases for which a specific schedule is followed. For example, the polio vaccine prevents polio-induced paralysis. BCG vaccine prevents invasive tuberculosis, pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines prevent pneumonia and diarrhea which are the two leading causes of mortality in the under-5 age group. 

Thus, it is important to adhere to the Universal Immunisation Programme schedule and follow the same to prevent children from polio, diarrhea, tuberculosis, typhoid, pneumonia, and others.