Health education course, chapter 1 - part 1: serving children's  (Page 4/5)

Families can keep water clean in the home by:

• storing drinking water in a clean, covered container
• avoid touching clean water with unclean hands
• taking water out of the container with a clean ladle or cup
• having a tap on the water container
• not allowing anyone to put their hands into the container or to drink directly from it
• keeping animals away from stored water.

If there is uncertainty about the safety of the drinking water, local authorities should be consulted.

Cleaning food

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Avoiding animal contact with food

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Preserving food

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Most vital immunizations

What are immunizations?

Immunizations, also called vaccinations, are given to protect you from diseases. Each vaccine contains small amounts of aweakened disease organism or its products, which usually are given by injection. Your immune system develops antibodies to fight the disease,which then recognize and attack the organisms if you are exposed to them in the future. Sometimes an immunization does not completely prevent thedisease, but it will significantly reduce its severity. Some immunizations are given only once, while others require severaltreatments over a period of time.

Why get immunized?

There are several reasons to keep childrens' immunizations current:

• Being immunized protects you. Diseases still exist and can infect anyone who has not been vaccinated.
• Being immunized protects those around you. A small number of people cannot be immunized because they have other health problems, such assevere allergies. This leaves them susceptible to diseases. Others are not protected from diseases because they do not develop immunityafter having vaccinations. If most people are immunized, it reduces the chance of these nonimmune people contracting the disease.
• Immunizations cost very little-much less than treating the illnesses they prevent.The risks are low. Reactions to immunizationsare usually mild and don't last long.
• Immunizations reduce the risk of epidemics.

What immunizations are recommended?

The standard immunization schedule includes vaccines for:

• Diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DTaP).
• Polio (inactivated poliovirus vaccine, or IPV).
• Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR).
• Chickenpox (varicella).
• Hepatitis B (Hep B).
• Hepatitis A (Hep A).
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).
• Pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) for children younger than 2 years of age.
• Influenza.

The standard immunization schedule begins at birth. Immunizations are spaced throughout a baby's first 18 months; some arerepeated between the ages of 4 and 6. Very few immunizations are needed after this age-just those given yearly (such as a flu shot) or on a regular basisthroughout adulthood (such as a tetanus shot).

All immunizations should be kept up-to-date. Additional vaccinations may be needed when traveling to certain parts ofthe world.

What reactions may result from being immunized?

Minor side effects

Side effects from vaccines are generally minor, if they occur at all. They may include:

• Redness, mild swelling, or soreness where the shot was given.
• Slight fever.
• Drowsiness, irritability, and poor appetite in some babies.
• A mild rash 7 to 14 days after chickenpox or MMR immunization.
• Temporary joint pain after the MMR vaccine.