Why are vaccines important?

·         Newborn babies are immune to many diseases because they have antibodies they got from their mothers. However, this immunity goes away during the first year of life. Also, young children do not have this "maternal immunity" against some diseases, such as whooping cough.

·         If an unvaccinated child is exposed to a disease germ, the child's body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. Before vaccines, many children died from diseases that vaccines now prevent, such as whooping cough, measles, and polio. Those same germs exist today, but because babies are now protected by vaccines, we do not see these diseases nearly as often.

·         Immunizing individual children also helps to protect the health of our community, especially those people who cannot be immunized. These include children who are too young to be vaccinated (for example, children less than a year old cannot receive the measles vaccine but can be infected by the measles virus), those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons (for example, children with leukemia), and those who cannot make an adequate response to vaccination.

Preventable Diseases in the U.S when vaccinated!

Anthrax

Cervical Cancer (Human Papillomavirus)

Diphtheria

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

Influenza (Flu)

Japanese encephalitis (JE)

Lyme disease

Lyme disease vaccine no longer available in the United States.

Measles

Meningococcal

Monkeypox

There is NO monkeypox vaccine. The smallpox vaccine is used for this disease.

Mumps

Pertussis

Pneumococcal

Polio

Rabies

Rotavirus

Rubella

Shingles (Herpes Zoster)

Smallpox

Tetanus

Typhoid

Tuberculosis (TB)

Varicella (Chickenpox)

Yellow Fever (CDC, 2013)

Vaccination in South Korea

In South Korea, there are eight recommended vaccinations for children from birth until they are 12 years old. These vaccinations are free at public health centers, participating pediatric practices and hospitals. For other vaccinations, parents may contact a private pediatrician practice.

The eight recommended vaccinations are:

Tuberculosis

Hepatitis B

Diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough

Polio

Measles, mumps, rubella

Chickenpox

Japanese encephalitis

Influenza (AngoInfo, 2013).

References

AngoIngo. (2013). Bringing up toddlers: Vaccinations. Retrieved from http://southkorea.angloinfo.com/family/toddlers/

Center for Disease Control and Preventiion. (2013). Why are vaccines so important? Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/howvpd.htm#why