children s health issues
Childhood Vaccinations
Introduction
Vaccination protects children against many infectious diseases. Vaccines contain either noninfectious components of bacteria or viruses or whole forms of these organisms that have been weakened so that they do not cause disease. Giving a vaccine (usually by injection) stimulates the body's immune system to defend against that disease. Vaccination is also called immunization because it produces a state of immunity to disease (see also Overview of Immunization ). 