Description
Vaccination of Children and Adults
As a result of widespread vaccination in Canada, many of today’s young parents have never seen diseases such as polio, smallpox, measles, pertussis or rubella.
Parents often question the benefits of vaccinating their children against diseases they have never seen, and therefore do not fear. They are often more concerned with what they have heard regarding possible side effects of vaccination, than being aware of the potential severity of the disease. Prior to widespread vaccination, thousands of children died from these diseases which can now be prevented by routinevaccination.
A common misconception held by some parents is, “ If everyone else is having their children vaccinated, I don’t have to worry about mine. “ These parents may be unaware that immunization programs in some parts of the world may be inadequate or non-existent. We no longer have any global borders against these diseases, which continue to be imported into Canada.
It is vital that parents be given the appropriate information to make an informed choice.
An excellent web site for parents is: www.immunize.cpha.ca . This web site should be able to answer questions, and has numerous links to other sources of information, as well as information on immunization for adults .
Another excellent reference for parents is: www.cps.ca/english/carekids/immunization/index.htm
