The Importance of Newborn Vaccination

In the early decades of the 20th century in the U.S., smallpox was a common childhood illness. Now it is virtually unknown here, thanks to vaccines. The same could be said of rubella, polio and other once-common childhood illnesses. These and many other facts supported by reliable studies point to the conclusion that immunization through newborn vaccination is important to your newborn baby’s health.

Developing fetuses receive their immunization protection in part from their own immune system, and in part from antibodies supplied by the mother through the umbilical cord. But even after birth, the newborn immune system is still immature. It will be a year before the child develops the full complement of antibodies that help fight off ever-present bacteria, viruses and other disease causing germs.

During those first critical months, breastfeeding mothers can help supply their newborns with protective antibodies through the colostrum and breast milk. But some mothers can’t breastfeed. And, most importantly, even mother’s milk doesn’t supply full protection against the wide number of potential diseases.

Parents can give their child extra protection by having them vaccinated.

The principle of newborn vaccination is very simple. In some cases, a quantity of dead organisms that would otherwise cause disease are used in a solution that is given via injection, sugar table, nasal spray or pill. In other cases, genetically-modified live organisms are used. In both cases, the disease causing germ has been neutralized.

But the basic biochemical makeup of the germ is still present. That stimulates the body’s immune system, which has evolved to recognize these proteins as ‘foreign invaders’ and to release antibodies to combat them. Since the organisms can’t cause disease, there’s minimal impact. But the body still releases the antibodies, and so builds up immunity should live, functioning germs ever be encountered. That prevents the disease before it occurs.

Is it Effective?

Decades of clinical research and common experience confirm the view that vaccines do work. They have reduced the incidence of rubella, whooping cough, smallpox, polio and a range of other once-common childhood diseases.

In the rare instance that a child still does get one of these diseases, the symptoms are often drastically reduced. What, in generations past, might have been a permanently crippling disease or a death sentence is now almost always a minor inconvenience.

Are Vaccines Risky?

While no newborn vaccination is completely without risk, modern genetically modified viruses used in vaccines represent a very low risk. It’s nearly unknown for a child, for example, to develop rubella from a vaccine. Consider how many people, young and old, get flu vaccines every year. Almost none ever get the flu.

But why take any risk, no matter how small? Because, the risks of serious harm should the child contract the disease the vaccination protects against are high. Thanks to widespread vaccination over the past few generations, many of these diseases are rare in the U.S. and elsewhere. But the potential effects are serious. That tips the risk-benefit ratio heavily in favor of vaccinations.

Junk Science Is Common

Many uninformed people have exaggerated the risks of vaccines. It was popular at one time, for example, to assert that vaccinations caused autism. The Mayo Clinic, in a recent meta-study that examined over 200 studies from major research organizations, found nothing to support this claim.

So it goes with so much of what is written on health today. Someone raises an unfounded concern. Professionals from a diverse group of organizations, including the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), major public and private universities, world renowned hospitals and others investigate. Invariably, they find the claims of risk to be overblown.

Conclusion

Vaccinations are an excellent method to help give your newborn the best start in life. Stimulating the immune system very early in life to develop antibodies against disease causing organisms drastically lowers the odds of contracting the disease later in life. That has proven true with whooping cough, rubella, diphtheria, smallpox, chicken pox, polio and many more that only a few generations ago devastated entire communities.

Look into the subject by reviewing professional sources. You’ll find that vaccines are good for your newborn.