The Importance of Immunizations

Immunizations will protect your child against diseases that can hurt, cripple or kill.

Statistics

Before vaccines, parents in the United States could expect that every year:

• A bacterium called Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) would cause meningitis in 15,000 children, leaving many with permanent brain damage.
• Diphtheria would be one of the most common causes of death in school-aged children.
• Measles would infect about 4 million children, killing 3,000.
• Pertussis (whooping cough) would kill 8,000 children, most of whom were under the age of 1.
• Polio would paralyze 10,000 children.
• Rubella (German measles) would cause birth defects and mental retardation in as many as 20,000 newborns.

For more information about current immunization requirements, visit the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.  Other vaccine-related links would be https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/