Diseases Your Child Can Get When Not Vaccinated

As we see advances in medical science in some places, we also see areas of medicine degrading, specifically with people who are against vaccinating their children. At Just Kids Pediatric, located in Oklahoma City, OK, we want to encourage you to vaccinate your children with flu shots and vaccines to ensure their safety and the safety of the people around them. Learn below about the different diseases that we are starting to see again due to the lack of immunization for children.

Measles

You’ve probably heard of what happened at Disneyland when there was a Measles outbreak. In addition to there being an outbreak in Disneyland, there have been reported cases in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and California. Before the availability of measles vaccines, almost everyone in the United States got it. Measles also lead to further complications, such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and ear infections. Out of 1,000 kids who get measles, at least two of them will die. With the high amount of kids who aren’t vaccinated, a massive epidemic is possible, similarly to before the measles vaccine came out.

Mumps

Recently, there have been confirmed mumps cases on a few college campuses. Patient zero is thought to be an unvaccinated student who traveled throughout Europe and brought it back to the United States. Usually, there are less than 20 cases a year, but the number seems to be skyrocketing due to the lack of children getting vaccines. Mumps is spread through saliva and feels similar to the flu.

Polio

At one point, poliovirus was the most feared virus in the United States, but with the invention of the polio vaccine there have been close to no cases at all. If there would be a discontinuation of polio vaccines, then immunity would decrease and the risk of this disease coming back would become just as big of an epidemic as it was in the turn of the century. Polio is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, and death. One can get polio from being exposed to an environment with someone’s feces who is infected.

To make sure that your children don’t get any of these diseases, make sure to get vaccines for your children. The moral of the story is to get your kids vaccinated. If you have any questions, please contact us.