Diseases have injured and killed many children over the years in the United States. Polio paralyzed about 37,000 and killed about 1,700 every year in the 1950s. Hib disease was once the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children under 5 years of age. About 15,000 people died each year from diphtheria before there was a vaccine. Up to 70,000 children a year were hospitalized because of rotavirus disease. Hepatitis B can cause liver damage and cancer in 1 child out of 4 who are infected, and tetanus kills 1 out of every 5 who get it. Thanks mostly to vaccines, these diseases are not nearly as common as they used to be. But they have not disappeared, either. Some are common in other countries, and if we stop vaccinating they will come back here. This has already happened in some parts of the world. When vaccination rates go down, disease rates go up.
Childhood vaccines can prevent these 8 Diseases
1. DIPHTHERIA : Signs and symptoms include a thick covering in the back of the throat that can make it hard to breathe. Diphtheria can lead to breathing problems, and heart failure.
2. TETANUS (Lockjaw) : Signs and symptoms include painful tightening of the muscles, usually all over the body. Tetanus can lead to stiffness of the jaw so victims can’t open their mouth or swallow.
3. PERTUSSIS (Whooping Cough) : Signs and symptoms include violent coughing spells that can make it hard for a baby to eat, drink, or breathe. These spells can last for weeks. Pertussis can lead to pneumonia, seizures, and brain damage.
4. HIB (Haemophilus influenzae type b) : Signs and symptoms can include trouble breathing. There may not be any signs or symptoms in mild cases.
Hib can lead to meningitis (infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings); pneumonia; infections of the blood, joints, bones, and covering of the heart; brain damage; and deafness.
5. HEPATITIS B : Signs and symptoms can include tiredness, diarrhea and vomiting, jaundice (yellow skin or eyes), and pain in muscles, joints and stomach. But usually there are no signs or symptoms at all. Hepatitis B can lead to liver damage, and liver cancer.
6. POLIO : Signs and symptoms can include flu-like illness, or there may be no signs or symptoms at all. Polio can lead to paralysis (can’t move an arm or leg).
7. PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE : Signs and symptoms include fever, chills, cough, and chest pain. Pneumococcal disease can lead to meningitis (infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings), blood infections, ear infections, pneumonia, deafness, and brain damage.
8. ROTAVIRUS : Signs and symptoms include watery diarrhea (sometimes severe), vomiting, fever, and stomach pain. Rotavirus can lead to dehydration and hospitalization.
Any of these diseases can lead to death.
How do babies catch these diseases?
Usually from contact with other children or adults who are already infected, sometimes without even knowing they are infected. A mother with Hepatitis B infection can also infect her baby at birth. Tetanus enters the body through a cut or wound; it is not spread from person to person.
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