Throughout this month, the team at Cucamonga Valley Medical Group has stressed the importance of childhood immunization and offered a number of resources and tips on this topic.

With another school year beginning, it’s even more imperative to make sure your child or children’s immunizations are up to date. To schedule an appointment, call us at 909.429.2864.

Here are five reasons why immunizations are so important:

• Immunizations can save your child’s life. Advances in medical science have eliminated or nearly eliminated diseases that once killed thousands of children. Your child will enter school with a level of protection against such illness that wasn’t available decades ago when diseases such as polio once took a huge toll on families throughout the world.
• Vaccination is very safe and effective. Vaccines are only given to children after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals. While vaccines may involve some discomfort or cause pain, redness, or tenderness at the site of injection, this is minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent. Serious side effects following vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare.
• Immunization protects others you care about. Children in the United States still get vaccine-preventable diseases. Resurgences of measles and whooping cough in recent years are two well-documented examples. To help keep your children safe, it is important that you and your children who can get vaccinated are fully immunized. This not only protects your family, but also helps prevent the spread of these diseases to your friends and loved ones.
• Immunizations can save your family time and money. A child with a vaccine-preventable disease might be denied attendance at schools or childcare facilities. Some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills or long-term disability care.
• Immunization protects future generations. Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that killed or severely disabled people just a few generations ago. For example, the smallpox vaccination eradicated that disease worldwide. By continuing to vaccinate perhaps some diseases common today may no longer be a threat to children in the future.