Infant Immunisation
Why do children need vaccinations? Vaccinations protect children from serious illness and potentially deadly diseases when they are very young, through their school years, and as adults. Across the world, vaccines have saved millions of lives. However, if people stop having vaccines, it is possible for infectious diseases to quickly spread again. How do vaccines work? Vaccines work by imitating an infection (the invasion and growth of a germ, like a virus or bacteria, in the body) and teaching the body to create special ghters called antibodies that protect it from disease. It’s much safer for the body to learn this through vaccination than by catching the disease and treating it. Once the body learns how to ght a disease through vaccination, it can often protect your child for many years. Keeping children safe from disease and illness According to the World Health Organization ( www. who.int ) vaccinations prevent more than 3.5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, u and measles. Since vaccines were introduced in the UK, diseases like smallpox and tetanus, which used to kill or disable millions of people, have now disappeared or are seen very rarely. Other diseases like measles and diphtheria have been reduced by up to 99.9% since their vaccines were introduced.
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