Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Vaccines have wiped out many diseases that used to be common (e.g. polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, tetanus, and influenza), preventing needless suffering and death in our community. The first time a person is infected with a germ, the immune system responds by producing special cells and antibodies that attack the germ. After the infection is cleared, some of these special cells and antibodies remain to provide the person with immunity. Immunity is the human body’s way of preventing or fighting off future infections. Vaccines produce long-lasting immunity without the illness and suffering that a germ infection can cause. Even though the diseases are less common because of vaccination, the germs that cause them are still around. That is why it is important to be vaccinated.
