Immunization: What's It All about?

Abstract

Many of today's parents have not experienced the impact of the contagious diseases of childhood. Many believe that immunizations are unnecessary now because the diseases are disappearing. However, except for smallpox, the antigens to most childhood diseases cannot be eliminated from the environment. More than one-third of American children have not developed complete protection against measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, and polio. This rises to almost 50 percent among the inner-city and disadvantaged populations. Not protecting children against these diseases is considered by some a form of child neglect. Nineteen million Americans are not immunized against polio, and yet paralytic polio was reported in the U.S. in 1980. Twelve to fifteen million Americans are not immunized against DPT and rubella. Twelve million Americans are not immunized against measles, and many more probably don't have sufficient titers. Americans have become lax in protecting their children from these communicable diseases, even though 48 states require immunization for entry into schools. Somehow, too many of our children are not being adequately immunized. We cannot afford this practice. Immunizations are vital to world health. What is an immunization? How does it work? What diseases should we protect against and why? The potential value of immunization was first recognized in 1796 by Edward Jenner when he developed an immunization against smallpox. This disease is the first one to be 100 percent eradicated. The goal of immunization, to prevent or lessen the severity of an infectious disease process by the administration of an antigen (active immunity) or an antibody (passive immunity), has not changed since Jenner's day. Immunity is defined as all those physiological mechanisms that endow the animal with the capacity to recognize materials as foreign to