While most state laws provide for religious or personal exemptions to required immunizations, concerned
parents should still consider the consequences of not immunizing their children.
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Without immunizations
your child is at greater risk of catching one of the
vaccine-preventable diseases. |
Vaccines were developed to protect individuals from dangerous and sometimes deadly
diseases. Vaccines are safe and effective, and
such diseases are still a threat.
- Pertussis or “whooping cough” is
an extremely dangerous disease for infants. It is not easily treated and
can result in permanent brain damage or death. During 1997–2000, nearly
30,000 cases of pertussis were reported in the United States, including
62 pertussis-related deaths. Of infected infants younger than age 6
months, two-thirds needed to be hospitalized. In 2004, 25,827 cases were
reported—the most cases reported since 1959.
- Measles is dangerous and very
contagious. During the 1989-1991 U.S. measles epidemic, approximately
55,000 cases and 132 deaths (mostly children) were reported. Worldwide,
measles kills approximately 500,000 children each year.
- Diphtheria is an infectious disease of the
nose and throat that can lead to serious
breathing problems, heart failure, paralysis,
and even death. In recent years, there have
been few cases of diphtheria in the United States.
However, a diphtheria
epidemic recently occurred in countries of
the former Soviet Union where many children and adults had not been immunized. Their reported cases of diphtheria
rose from 839 in 1989 to 47,802 in 1994,
when 1,746 persons died. At least 20
infected individuals exported the disease
along the way.
- Before the availability of a chickenpox
vaccine, almost every child suffered from
this disease. Between 1988-1995, up to
10,000 people were hospitalized each year
from complications of chickenpox—most
of them previously healthy children. An average of 43 children died from chickenpox
each year from 1990-1994.
- During the 2003–04 influenza season, 40 states reported 152
influenza-related deaths among children younger than 18.
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Without immunizations
your child can infect others.
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Children who are not immunized can transmit
vaccine-preventable diseases throughout the community.
- Unvaccinated people can pass diseases on to babies who are too young to be fully
immunized.
- Unvaccinated people pose a threat to children and adults who can't be immunized
for medical reasons. This includes people
with leukemia and other cancers, HIV/AIDS
and other immune system problems, and
persons receiving chemotherapy, radiation
therapy, or large doses of corticosteroids.
- Unvaccinated people can infect the small percentage of children whose immunizations
did not "take."
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Without immunizations
your child may have to be
excluded at times from
school or child care. |
During disease outbreaks, unimmunized children may be excluded from school or child
care until the outbreak is over, both for their
own protection and for the protection of others. This causes hardship for the child and parent.
What to do...
We strongly encourage you to immunize your
child, but ultimately the decision is yours. Please discuss any
concerns you have with a trusted healthcare provider or call the
immunization coordinator at your local or state health department.
Your final decision affects not only the health of your child, but
also the rest of your family, the health of your child's friends and
their families, classmates, neighbors, and community.
For more information about vaccines, go to:
This brochure was created by the California Department of Health
Services, Immunization Branch, and was modified with permission by the
Immunization Action Coalition (IAC). The content was reviewed by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It may be reproduced
without permission. If you alter it, please acknowledge it was adapted
from the California Department of Health Services and IAC.
Item #P4017 (3/06)
www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4017.pdf |
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