Читать книгу Vaccines For Dummies - Sharon Perkins - Страница 7

IN THIS CHAPTER

Looking at the importance of vaccines

Getting a handle on how vaccines work

Surveying the COVID-19 vaccine

Checking out schedules and side effects

Boosting your immune system’s response

Infections that once haunted childhood are now seen only in textbooks. These were the true bogeymen of childhood, the real monsters under the bed. They were common and potentially life-threatening. We now have vaccines for these infections that were so tricky to treat and easy to spread. Most children around the world are vaccinated against these bogeymen, including, among others, measles, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and smallpox. Vaccines have helped send these diseases packing, even though we still don’t always have good treatments for the diseases themselves.

There’s a lot of information — and misinformation — out there about vaccines. When large groups lose trust in the benefits of vaccination, many people, not just those who don’t want to be vaccinated, can suffer. Diseases like COVID-19 can continue to spread. Those who have weakened immune systems that don’t respond well to vaccines can be infected by others. It’s important that we keep our eyes on the common enemy — infectious diseases.