The Need to Vaccinate Infants and Travellers

The Need to Vaccinate Infants and Travellers

Vaccinations are given in infancy and to travellers against various

diseases that can kill but are preventable due to the modernisation of

medicine. I have put together a brief over view of the need to

administer such vaccines.

The disease's that are vaccinated against in infancy are: diphtheria,

whooping cough, tetanus, polio, hib, measles, mumps, rubella and

tuberculosis. Diphtheria is a serious disease that begins with a sore

throat and can quickly cause breathing problems. It can damage the

heart and nervous system and, in severe cases, it can kill. Tetanus is

a painful disease that affects the muscles and can also cause

breathing problems; it can also affect the nervous system and kill.

Whooping cough is a disease that can cause long bouts of coughing and

choking which can make it hard to breathe. It can last for up to ten

weeks, it can be very dangerous to babies and can kill. Polio is a

virus that attacks the nervous system and can permanently paralyse the

muscles. If is affects the chest muscles or the brain, it too, can

kill. Measles, mumps and rubella are all very infectious diseases;

they are not serious in themselves but can lead to very serious

complications.

The vaccinations are given though out infancy and childhood to prepare

the immune system against any possible outbreak of these potentially

fatal diseases. Vaccinations involve an injection of, in most cases,

an attenuated version of the bacterium or virus. This causes the lymph

nodes to produce antibodies to fight the bacterium or virus even

though they do not cause any serious symptoms. The idea is that if and

when a child comes into contact with any of these diseases then the

body will recognise the bacterium or virus and immediately be able to

produce the specific antibody to stop the disease from developing.

It is exactly the same process for travellers, except there may be a

need to vaccinate against other diseases that do not occur in the UK.

The reason why travellers need to be vaccinated is because every