When you bring your infant in for their regular health exams, forms are filled out, questions are asked, the little one is examined and then comes the vaccines. Vaccines are a difficult thing for some parents to accept. There is much misinformation out there regarding the dangers of vaccines. There is little information about the benefits of vaccines so, I thought it would be good for parents to know why South Lake Pediatrics cares so much about making sure your baby gets the vaccines they need.

Before vaccines were available, parents in the United States could expect that every year:
-Polio would paralyze 10,000 children
-Rubella would cause birth defects and mental retardation in about 20,000 newborns
-Measles would infect 4,000,000 children killing about 500
-Diphtheria would be one of the most common causes of death in school aged children
-Haemophilus influenza B would infect the brain of 15,000 children leaving many with permanent brain damage or killing them outright
-Pertussis (whooping cough) would kill thousands of infants
-Rotovirus would cause up to 70,000 hospitalizations and up to 60 deaths
-Pneumococcus would cause 71,000 cases of pneumonia, 17,000 blood infections and 700 cases of brain infection; killing many
-etc., etc., etc.

As you can see, vaccines decrease the number of terribly sick kids and save the lives of so many babies that it is inconceivable for us ever consider not vaccinating our precious patients against these deadly diseases. Please keep in mind why we vaccinate and what we together are helping to prevent and remember that it is your baby we are trying to keep healthy.