With back to school in full force, it’s fitting August is also National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). The annual event highlights the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. Immunization is the single most crucial health measure you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Vaccine Importance
Vaccines are much like a manual for your body that shows how to recognize and defeat a harmful disease. Scientists and researchers take weakened or dead parts of a virus in the vaccination. This exposes your body to an illness so it can create antibodies for it—all without the risk of complications from a live version.
Over 20 widely used vaccines are available today for severe illnesses like measles, meningitis, pneumonia, smallpox, and polio. Many of these diseases once ran rampant, leaving trails of death, disability, or serious illness. For example, smallpox has killed an estimated 300 million people since 1900. Thanks to widespread immunization efforts that eradicated it in 1977.
Though eradicated, the germs that cause smallpox and other viruses we vaccinate against continue to circulate in parts of the world. Now more than ever, the ease at which illnesses can travel to other parts of the world means we are all at risk. The World Health Organization estimates vaccines save over 4 million children alone every year.
National Immunization Awareness Month
NIAM is the perfect time to get with your health provider. They can ensure you and your loved ones are current on your vaccines and answer any questions you may have. The CDC has an interactive guide and other immunization tools to see recommendations by age group. You can also spread the word to others by using the hashtag #NationalImmunizationAwarenessMonth in social media correspondence.
Participating in clinical research studies may also be an option for those interested in getting vaccinated. ActivMed Practices & Research has current opportunities to get involved in now, and more are starting soon. At the moment, we are enrolling participants for meningitis vaccine studies at our Beverly, MA and Methuen, MA locations.
Our COVID-19 vaccine booster studies that include either the flu or shingles immunization will begin enrolling shortly. We also have an RSV vaccine study starting soon too! To add your name to our list to call for additional information, click here to select your location for contact information or fill out the “future studies” form to submit your information electronically.
Sources:
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/vaccines-and-immunization-what-is-vaccination
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-immunization-awareness-month-august/
https://www.history.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-smallpox