National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM)

Did You Know? Immunization prevents between 2-3 million deaths every year and is one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions

Adults and children alike need vaccines to prevent serious illness such as measles, whooping cough, the flu and more

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), thousands of Americans get sick each year from diseases that vaccines can prevent. Through NIAM, the CDC is teaming up with other agencies to help promote and educate patients on the importance of vaccinations.

01 | How Do Vaccinations Work?
When germs enter your body, they start to reproduce and make you sick as they spread. As a defense, your body produces proteins called antibodies that fight the germs and help you get well. After eliminating the germs attacking your immune system, the antibodies stay in your bloodstream to build immunity, meaning they prevent you from getting sick from the same germ more than once.

Vaccines give you the same protection. Weakened or killed germs are introduced into your bloodstream (usually by injections or ‘shots’) and the antibodies respond by attacking the germs and stay in the bloodstream in the same way they would any other germ, giving you immunity without being sick to get it.

02 | Are Vaccines Safe?
Vaccines are one of the safest medical products. Every vaccine undergoes extensive lab testing before being distributed for patients to receive and is continually monitored as long as it is in use. The most common side effects are soreness at injection site and low-grade fever. Serious reactions are rare.

03 | Spread the Word
National Immunization Month is a great time to educate and promote vaccines and remind those around you to stay up to date on their shots. Talk to friends, family and coworkers about the benefits of receiving vaccines and talk to your doctor to see what vaccines are right for you and your family.

For more information about vaccines, please visit: https://www.nphic.org/niam

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References
https://www.nphic.org/niam
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html
http://www.vaccineinformation.org/faqs-common-questions/