The article written by the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes
the importance of vaccination after measles cases reported in Indiana (2012), made me realize the importance of
vaccination. One may think that an outbreak of measles would be unheard of
during the 21st century. According to the American Academy of
Pediatrics, there was a case of measles that was diagnosed in Indianapolis. The
infected individual exposed an estimated 200,000 people to the virus. Measles
is a virus that is highly contagious.” It is a reminder of how important it is
to maintain high immunization rates against vaccine-preventable diseases”
(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012). Fortunately, there were only two people
that were affected with the virus.
The topic of immunization is important because no one needs
to be exposed to any type of vaccine-preventable disease. Working in the field of education it is
imperative that every child is immunized so contagious diseases will not spread
throughout the school environment.
The information that I have found, will help me to keep the importance of vaccines at the forefront of my mind and it will help me to keep a regular check on students’ vaccination records. While reading the article, I was given time to reflect on a situation that occurred in my school environment. There was a student who has cancer, and her parents were afraid to allow doctors to administer vaccinations to the child because they were afraid that the injections would be harmful to her. But the truth of the matter is she was just as harmful to us as we were to her.
American Academy of Pediatrics Emphasizes Importance of
Vaccination After Measles Cases in Indiana, (2/9/12).
The article World Health Organization First African
Vaccination Week (2011) was very informative. It was interesting to note the
new emphasis that Africa has placed on immunization. According to the article,
the mortality rate due to the lack of immunization has decreased, but the
country itself has a long way to go. “Although mortality due to the disease in the African Region was reduced by 89% between 2000 and
2008; in 2009, an estimated 3.6 million children were not reached at all by
immunization services
while approximately 6
million did not get all the recommended vaccinations needed to protect them” (World
Health Organization, 2011).It was interesting to read how immunizations can save a child's life.
World Health Organization First African Vaccination Week to be Observed in April 2011. (March 7, 2011)
I think the reason the parents were afraid to give the little girl the vaccines was that chemotherapy seriously hinders one's immune system. I went through 7 months of chemotherapy and I had to be extremely careful not to get sick at all because even getting just a minor infection I could have died. With the little girls immune system being so weak they may have been worried she could have died from the weakend virus in the vaccine.
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