Importance of Immunizations - Case Study Example

The preventative parameters are applied to the people to cure them before they get sensitized from the infection. The best way to cure diseases is to create preventive measures at the individual level. These preventions can be applied by the administration of vaccines in individual ones. Vaccines are suspension of killed, living or attenuated cultures of microorganisms which are used to produce immunity against infections due to pathogenic microorganisms. Upon administration, into a living body, they create the immunological effects that make the person resistant to the infectious agent.

On exposure to such microorganisms, the already resistant one has no adverse effect of pathogens and the person can no more sensitize. Vaccines also reduce the chances of secondary infections. Even the rate of acquiring infections decreases up to a remarkable extent i.e. diphtheria is decreased up to 100%, hepatitis A 87%, hepatitis B 80%, measles >99%, mumps 96%, Pneumococcal disease (invasive) 34%, Polio (paralytic) 100%, rubella >99%, smallpox 100%, tetanus 93%, etc. There are some side effects of vaccines also.

Most of the time they are minor but some can create mild problems also. There is some statistical data providing adverse effects of vaccines (Roush et al., 2007). Severe problems are extremely rare. . Severe problems: Serious allergic reaction, within a few minutes to a few hours of the shot (very rare) (DOH, 2006)Hepatitis B vaccine side-effects Hepatitis B is a very safe vaccine. Most people do not have any problems with it. Mild problemsSoreness where the shot was given (up to about 1 person 4)
The temperature of 99.9'F or higher (up to about 1 person in 15).

Severe problems
Severe problems are extremely rare. Severe allergic reactions are believed to occur about once in 1.1 million doses. More than 100 million people have gotten the hepatitis B vaccine in the United States. (DOH, 2007)Anthrax vaccine side-effects Getting anthrax disease is much more dangerous than any risk from the vaccine. Like any medicine, a vaccine is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of the anthrax vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.

Mild Problems
Soreness, redness, or itching where the shot was given (about 1 out of 10 men, about 1 out of 6 women)
A lump where the shot was given (about 1 person out of 2)Muscle aches or joint aches (about 1 person out of 5)
Headaches (about 1 person out of 5) Fatigue (about 1 out of 15 men, about 1 out of 6 women)
Chills or fever (about 1 person out of 20) Nausea (about 1 person out of 20). Moderate ProblemsLarge areas of redness where the shot was given (up to 1 person out of 20). Serious allergic reaction (very rare - less than once in 100,000 doses).

As with any vaccine, other severe problems have been reported. But these events appear to occur no more often among anthrax vaccine recipients than among unvaccinated people.