Our bodies are designed to protect us from diseases. When you are exposed to an illness, your immune system actually learns from the experience. The next time your body is exposed to the same illness, your immune system often recognizes the culprit and sets out to destroy it.
Immunization exposes you to a very small, very safe amount of the most important diseases you are likely to encounter at some point in your life. This mild exposure helps your immune system recognize and attack the disease efficiently. If you are exposed to the full-blown disease later in life, you will either not become infected or have a much less serious infection. This is a natural way to deal with infectious diseases.
Throughout human history, infectious diseases have caused measureless misery and death. This rampage was unchecked until the twentieth century, when immunization was introduced on a wide scale. This led to the global eradication of smallpox, the elimination of polio from the Americas, and has almost eliminated tetanus, diphtheria, mumps, and the horrible congenital rubella syndrome. Immunization has greatly reduced the occurrence of measles, pertussis, and meningitis. Millions of deaths and other tragedies have been prevented.
Four different types of vaccines are currently available.
Attenuated (weakened) live virus is used in the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine.
Poliomyelitis (2 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Poliomyelitis is a disorder caused by a viral infection. The virus, known as poliovirus, infects nerves. This infection can lead to temporary paralysis¿or, in more severe cases, permanent paralysis or death. Reviewer: Monica Gandhi MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 03/06/2006
Diphtheria (1 image)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Diphtheria is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Reviewer: Charlotte Grayson, MD, Private Practice specializing in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease, Smyrna, GA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 09/25/2006
Tetanus(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Tetanus is a potentially deadly nervous system disease due to the bacteria Clostridium tetani (C. tetani. Reviewer: D. Scott Smith, M.D., MSc, DTM&H, Chief of Infectious Disease & Geographic Medicine, Kaiser Redwood City, CA & Adjunct Assistant Professor, Stanford University. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 11/27/2006
Mumps (1 image)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Mumps is an acute, contagious disease that causes painful swelling of the salivary glands. The salivary glands produce saliva, a liquid that moistens food and helps you chew and swallow. See also: Salivary gland infections Reviewer: Benjamin W. Van Voorhees, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 08/18/2006
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