In the time of COVID-19 pandemic we have realised how important vaccination is to keep us all safe from virus and diseases. Vaccines can sometimes become our lone warriors and help us to provide with relevant precautions. Vaccines have enormous impact on our health and therefore some vaccines are given just after few months to childbirth in order to prevent them from health adversities. Vaccine preventable diseases can be serious and may require hospitalisation if things go down. Immunity and health can be effective tools against many adverse health disorders you may usually not know about. Today we are going to share some health diseases that can be prevented with the help of vaccines.
How do Vaccines Prevent Diseases?
We spoke to Dr. Sumeet Nigam, General Physician from Sahara Hospital, Lucknow to ask for his views on vaccine preventable diseases. He told that vaccines are actually immunity boosters that provide you with natural defences against the development of diseases. Usually the germs attack the bacteria and virus as they invade your body. Then they gradually increase and attack multiple locations because of which you fall ill and can even get hospitalised. Vaccines are given in diseases that are very severe and cause adverse implications if it is not prevented.
Our body is able to nullify the affect of diseases or virus attack on the body by providing response similar to real infection due to vaccination. Children are at higher risk of catching majority of diseases. People may have minor symptoms after getting vaccinated but it can be beneficial for them on the long term. We have seen a big example of this in COVID-19, where vaccines were the only live saviours.
Vaccine Preventable Diseases
1. Polio
It is a contagious disease and it has infected many people in the past decades, therefore vaccination of polio is considered must at an early age. Polio is affected because of coming in contact with stool of an infected person. It can spread rapidly to other people within 1-2 weeks of time. The symptoms of polio also develop over time and it could cause lifetime paralysis or deformity in people getting infected with this disease. Polio can also contaminate food and water if you do not wash your hands and thus it could lead to fatal complications. Polio vaccine is available which is called Inactivated Poliovirus (IPV), it protects your children from polio and its related conditions.
2. Tetanus
Tetanus is not contagious but can be a seriously damage your health because it can act like a poison in your body. Tetanus infection causes painful muscle stiffness and can cause life-threatening complications. This condition is caused because of coming in contact with the bacteria found it the soil. When you get any cut, injury or sore skin, etc, then the chances of these infection going inside your body increases. It can lead people to muscle spasms, paralysis and certain breathing problems. A person may also be infected with a burn of animal bite in many cases. Vaccine for tetanus can protect your child from painful tetanus infection and therefore must be taken if there is some injury.
3. Influenza Flu
This infection is very common and is known to majority of people. Influenza flu can cause infection in your lungs, throat and nose. Flu is contagious and can spread to people very easily, especially with lower immunity and pregnant women. People with asthma and diabetes can also get flu in almost no time. It is very important to consider flu vaccination from early age in order to prevent children and adults from getting influenza. This also increases the chances of getting other infections and virus attack in the body. It can spread through few drops of saliva from the mouth, eyes, nose other objects.
4. Hepatitis B
It is a contagious liver disease that can be caused because of developing acute infection in the body. People getting infected with hepatitis B suffer from severities such as liver cancer and other health problems. Vaccines for Hepatitis B are available in order to control this severe infection and vaccines can act as health boosters in this process. It can prevent development of any serious liver disease and also reduce risk of cancer from Hepatitis B.
5. Measles
Measles is again a very contagious disease that affects your respiratory system and results to fever and rashes over your body. Measles can be cause life-threatening complications in case of babies and small children. This disease can lead to deafness and pneumonia in people and therefore needs to be prevented as early as possible. The best way to protect measles is to get mumps-rubella vaccine which can prevent you from several types of severity.
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6. Mumps
Another contagious disease that is caused by viral infections, mumps can be caused because of coughing and sneezing. Symptoms of mumps start appearing within few days of infection and get severe within no time. It can lead the person to meningitis, encephalitis or deafness. Vaccine available for mumps can protect you from this disease and prevent symptoms from getting severe. It can protect your child from getting fever and swollen glands under ears and jaws.
7. Chicken Pox
Chicken pox is a very common health problem which is said to infect thousands of people each year. Chicken pox is a disease that leads to fever and itchy rashes around your whole body. It can lead to severe complication in babies and can weaken the immune response in adults. This blister causing disease can spread easily through cough or sneezes. It can also spread because of touching infected blisters; hence people need to be isolated in order to keep other protected. Vaccine for chicken pox becomes must from early stages in order to protect you from adversities.
8. COVID-19
How can we forget this in our list? Corona virus is a fatal respiratory infection that results to multiple symptoms such as fever, cough, body ache, shortness of breath and many other symptoms. We have seen how this disease can cause havoc and its variants are still affecting thousands of people each day, therefore it is very important to take precautions. It can infect anyone coming in contact with the virus which can stay over surface for many days. COVID-19 infection can result to life-threatening complications and thus vaccine is absolutely necessary. Corona virus can only be prevented with help of taking 2 doses of vaccines against this deadly virus.
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9. Hepatitis A
It is a very severe liver disease that is caused by a virus; however this is not as contagious as in the case of hepatitis B. Children having hepatitis A do not even have too many symptoms because they can pass it to other people if they are unvaccinated. Usually caregivers, parents and close contact people get this infection more easily than other people. Hepatitis A can protect people from causing complications and getting extremely sick. Vaccine available for this disease can prevent children from getting sick from Hepatitis A. If vaccine is not taken, then the symptoms could have an adverse affect as they grow up into adults.
10. Diphtheria
This is a contagious disease that often spreads because of bacteria becoming a poison for the body. It is a lesser known condition but can have severe life-threatening consequences of lives of people. Diphtheria can affect your heart that leads to certain types of abnormal heart rhythms and sometimes heart failure. This disease can lead a person to temporary or permanent paralysis which can ruin a person’s life. Therefore taking vaccination for diphtheria can prevent you from health issues and severe complications. DTap is the vaccine available to protect children against thick coating in the nose and blockage in the air passage in the throat. Vaccine for diphtheria can also prevent people from making it difficult for them to swallow or breathe.
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