About vaccines
The health sustaining power of vaccines cannot be over-stated. Vaccines have virtually eliminated many once-feared diseases that claimed the lives of entire communities.
Now that childhood diseases, such as diphtheria, measles and pertussis (whooping cough) no longer present the frightening spectre they once did, parents sometimes wonder why their children must receive so many shots and, moreover, wonder about the safety of vaccines.
Adults also sometimes hesitate to choose vaccination against infection that could seriously threaten or undermine their health and wellbeing.
Rumours and misinformation abound. For example, some parents worry that routine childhood vaccination may weaken their infant's immune system or that certain vaccines may actually be the cause of diseases such as autism, multiple sclerosis or diabetes. While parents hesitate to vaccinate in an effort to protect their child, they are, in fact, placing their child in harms way.
It is important to be informed, so that you can separate myth from well-documented fact. For information about vaccines you can visit the sources listed below and find answers to questions such as:
- Are vaccines safe?
- Why do we still need vaccines?
- Do vaccines overwhelm the immune system?
- Do vaccines weaken the immune system?
- Can children who are sick receive vaccines?
- Can we give vaccines by a method other than shots?
- Are children too young to get vaccines?
- Can children manage several vaccines at the same time?
- Why are some vaccines given as a single dose and others as multiple doses?
Links for further information:
Public health agency of Canada
www.publichealth.gc.ca
Canadian Paediatric Society
www.cps.ca
Canadian coalition for immunization awareness and promotion
www.immunize.cpha.ca
Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
www.vaccine.chop.edu
World Health Organization
www.who.int
