Every flue season you see the ads on the news.
Get your flue vaccine.
Of course kids going to school are vaccinated for all sorts of things, especially when they get into college and are surrounded by people from all over the world where vaccinations aren't so common.
And while nobody is suggesting that you don't have these vaccinations, there are risks involved that you should be aware of.
The purpose of this article is simply to point out some of those risks.
The first thing you need to understand is exactly how a vaccination works.
What basically happens when your doctor gives you a vaccination, say for measles, is that they inject you either with a non infectious form of the bacteria or virus, or they inject you with a whole strain that has been weakened to the point where it can't, in theory anyway, do you any harm.
This is done to help build an immunity to the disease.
In theory, this works great, most of the time.
However, there are occasions where there are problems.
One of the risks is that in some cases, people who are vaccinated do not build the desired immunity.
Of course there is no way to know this until they actually come in contact with the bacteria or virus.
Where this becomes a problem is when somebody is being vaccinated specifically because they will be traveling to a part of the world where they know there is a very good chance that they will be exposed to the bacteria or virus in question, such as when missionaries travel to underdeveloped countries to do their work.
Another risk is that of side effects.
Some people will either develop immunity to the bacteria or virus and have mild side effects, such as itching, rash and fever, while others will actually get the disease full blown.
Now, in the case of something like measles, this isn't the most dangerous thing in the world, but in the case of something like tuberculosis, which is highly contagious, this can be a real problem.
And again, there is no way to know beforehand as everybody will have a different reaction to the vaccination.
The good news is, there is a law that states that parents must be given warnings about the risks of these vaccinations before they are administered.
Each time their child is vaccinated, they are also given a vaccine statement to show record of the vaccination.
Plus, there are laws in place to compensate those who suffer permanent damage because of the vaccination.
While this does little more than just provide monetary support, it is at least something.
Make no mistake about it.
There are risks to all vaccinations.
But please don't get the wrong idea.
This article is in no way suggesting that you avoid these vaccinations, as some of them are required by law in order to be able to attend most institutions of learning.
So be warned, be prepared, but don't skip that flue shot.
It just may save your life one day.
To YOUR Health, Steve Wagner