Navigating Health

Archive for March 25th, 2010

Infectious diseased used to be the most common cause of death in children and young adults. However, since doctors started using immunization-injecting vaccines, for example- to help our immune systems fight harmful invaders, infections such as meningitis, measles and tetanus are no longer widespread killers. A range of methods have been developed to boost the immune system, and if immunized early in life a child can be protected even before they are at risk from infection. Most immunizations are very safe and produce few side effects.

Immunization is general terms for the ways in which medicine can help the body prepare in advance to fight disease. Immunization is achieved by giving vaccines, typically by injection. These may be dead or weakened forms of disease causing micro organisms, which stimulate the body to produce disease fighting antibodies against that illness. In this way, the immune system is primed to recognize and defeat the micro-organism if the child encounters it at a later date. This method is also known as vaccination. Vaccination can give your child long-term protection from a range of infectious diseases that either cannot be treated or that spread so rapidly that treatment is inadequate.

A different vaccine is given for each disease, because the immune system produces specific antibodies to kill each invader. For most infections, several vaccinations are needed so that the immune system builds up and maintains a protective level of antibodies. Vaccination gives a significant level of protection against potentially fatal diseases. Many of these diseases still do not have an effective treatment, so vaccination may be the only way to protect your child. Immunization can also help to eradicate the virus or bacterium from circulation.