I just became aware of an excellent pamphlet created by the CDC to explain in layman’s terms how vaccines work. This is a really good primer for anyone who wants to understand the idea behind vaccinations, but doesn’t want to be inundated with too much jargon and technicalities.
One of the things that worries parents more than anything else about vaccines is what exactly is in the vaccine. Generally speaking a vaccine contains the antigen, the part of the virus or bacteria that is meant to induce the immune response, a solution in which it is suspended, generally a saline solution, and “other stuff”. The antigen could be a dead germ, part of a germ, a protein from the germ etc. The other stuff is generally what the “green our vaccines” crowd worry about. Fortunately you can know with certainty what this other stuff is. The CDC has ———->FULL ARTICLE
I happened to find this at the CDC website: The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, a federally funded program that provides free vaccinations to eligible children, whose parents cannot afford to pay. The program covers all vaccines recommended by the CDC. Here are some details: Who Is Eligible for the VFC Program? Your child is eligible for the VFC Program if he or she is younger than 19 years of age and is one of the following: Medicaid-eligible Uninsured Underinsured American Indian or Alaska Native What Is Underinsured? Underinsured means your child has health insurance, but it Doesn’t cover vaccines, or Doesn’t cover certain ———->FULL ARTICLE
It was just brough to my attention that the CDC has a long list of materials available for free on its website. The formats include CDs, DVDs and print materials. There’s some really neat stuff there, such as Childhood Immunization Schedules in little, laminated card format, great for handing out to friends and family, or at your local skeptical event. You should check out the list of available materials and order yours today.
Staying on top of your children’s recommended immunizations can be daunting. You have to print out the CDC’s recommended schedule, translate it into something that makes sense, keeping track of what vaccine was given when etc, etc. Now, I’ve found that the CDC provides a tool that makes it easy to print a personalized schedule that breaks down what vaccine should be given when. All you do is enter your child’s date of birth, and name if you wish, and the system produces a tabular list, telling you exactly what vaccine the child should receive and by what date, so ———->FULL ARTICLE