Child Development and Public Health

The public health topic that I chose to discuss is immunization. The textbook defines immunization as the process of protecting a person against a disease, via antibodies. Immunization can happen naturally, when someone survives a disease, or medically, via a small dose of the virus that stimulates the production of antibodies and thus renders a person immune. (Berger, 2012, page 149) Being that I am in a public health position working at an elementary school, I feel that children need to be up to date on the immunization requirements. It amazes me that every year during registration, some parents seem oblivious to the immunization requirements. Often times they feel as if we should allow the child to be in school and they will provide the immunization paperwork at a later date. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, and the parent or guardian has to be told that the child cannot enter school without the proper documentation.
Immunization protect children from temporary sickness, as well as serious complications including deafness, blindness, sterility, and meningitis. Wow. I had no idea that immunization can protect children from so much! As the saying goes, you learn something new every day. My personal experience with the importance of immunization came to be when I contracted chicken pox from a child in the daycare classroom that I worked in. I was eighteen years old with itchy bumps and spots all over. Needless to say, I learned the value of children having the proper immunizations from that day forth. This makes me wonder why some parents make a big deal on the first day of school if they are turned away from registering their child for school if they have no proof of immunizations. Not only is the welfare of other children at stake- the welfare of the staff is at stake as well. In my opinion, a fussy, irritable child who may or may not run a fever after shots is a small sacrifice that can possibly save his or her life from disease in the long run. As with anything, there are problems with immunizations. The biggest problem is that no effective vaccine has been found for AIDS, malaria, cholera, typhoid, and shigellosis. (Berger, 2012, page 151) All of these diseases are deadly and worldly.

I am enclosing a website which details immunization criteria all over the world. Please check it out! It is quite interesting.

http://www.iamat.org/pdf/world_immunization_chart.pdf