Parenting Tips for Your 13-14 Month Old Toddler
Many parents wonder why they need to vaccinate their children. They don’t hear much about children getting sick with any of these diseases, such as diphtheria or measles anymore. There’s a reason. You don’t hear about people getting sick with these diseases because most people are immunized against them. Children who are not immunized or vaccinated are still at risk for getting the diseases.
The problem is that these diseases still do occur in the United States. If your child is not vaccinated, she is at high risk of getting the disease if someone else in the community has it. Infants and toddlers are at especially high risk if they are not vaccinated because they have absolutely no immunity to the disease.
Measles is a good example. Before the measles vaccine was used widely, most children in the United States got measles. About 1 in 5 children were hospitalized for complications from measles, and 450 children died of complications each year. Measles is still common in some parts of the world, and could be brought to the United States very easily. Children who are not immunized against measles are at high risk for catching it if they are exposed to the disease.
If you want to know more about the safety of vaccines, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
