InTouch with Southern Kentucky April 2020 | Page 20

Health
Why immunizations are important
BY JANIE SLAVEN
COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL
Life before vaccines was no doubt
very different from what it is today.
Vaccines work by helping the
body get to “know” its enemies.
They contain the
dead or weakened
germs which cause
disease. Their in-
troduction into the
body stimulates our
immune systems to
produce antibodies
to fight off a partic-
Dr. Dan Gallo
ular disease.
Since immuniz-
ing has become standard practice,
many diseases have largely been
eliminated. In that regard, vaccina-
tions may be victim to their own
success.
Today, most adults with young
children have not lived in a world
20 • I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky 
without readily available vaccines
and it’s hard for them to appreciate
what life was like before vaccines.
With some parents hesitant to
follow the approved vaccination
schedule — or have their children
vaccinated at all — there has been a
resurgence of diseases like measles,
which recently hit a 25-year high in
the United States. Measles is highly
contagious and can cause complica-
tions for small children. That’s why
it’s so important to listen to health
care professionals, such as your
child’s primary care provider, when
they recommend a vaccination
schedule.
“Infant immunizations are of vital
importance to keeping our young
ones healthy,” Dr. Dan Gallo, a
board-certified Pediatrician and
Internist with Lake Cumberland
Medical Associates, said.
Dr. Gallo noted that vaccination
protocols have been standardized
by organizations including the
American Academy of Pediatrics
and American Academy of Family
Physicians. Shortly after a child is
born, he or she is usually begun to
be immunized against Hepatitis B,
he said. Children then begin receiv-
ing a series of immunizations start-
ing at two months. Over the years,
doctors have been able to group
some vaccines together in one shot
“to minimize the trauma of the shot
itself to the child.”
An example of one vaccine used to
immunize against multiple diseas-
es is TdaP for tetanus, diphtheria,
and pertussis (whooping cough).
Whooping cough has also made a
comeback because people are not
immunizing as recommended. Dr.
Gallo noted that a child’s respira-
tory system is not as developed
and can be more severely impacted
if the child contracts whooping
cough.
M arch 2020