One of the key steps in disease prevention is immunization. When you get immunizations, you’re protecting yourself and those around you from potentially life-threatening diseases. Are you still on the fence about getting your recommended vaccines? Keep reading to learn some of the biggest reasons why immunizations are important and how they save lives.
1. Immunizations Can Save Your Life
The primary purpose of immunizations is to protect you from potentially dangerous illnesses. Serious diseases like measles, tetanus, and whooping cough used to kill thousands of individuals. Today, we have vaccines to protect us from these and other dangerous diseases. When you have been vaccinated against an infectious disease, you have a reduced chance of getting sick from it and an even lower chance of developing serious complications. Immunizations teach your immune system to recognize certain diseases and make antibodies to protect you from them. This teaches your immune system how to fight the disease if it enters your body, protecting you from dangerous symptoms and complications. In some cases, immunizations provide life-long protection, while others require boosters.
2. Immunizations Can Protect Those Around You
Not only are you protecting yourself when you get immunizations, but you’re also protecting others around you. Infectious diseases like measles and mumps were once common, and now they are spread much less often. When you get vaccinated against potentially deadly diseases, you reduce your ability to spread them to your loved ones and other people with whom you come into contact. This is especially important if you’re around people with weakened immune systems or who themselves were unable to receive immunizations. If enough people get vaccinated against a disease, the whole community benefits through “herd immunity.” It’s much more difficult for a disease to spread when most of the population has been vaccinated against it, which then protects those who weren’t able to get immunizations.
3. Immunizations Can Save You Time and Money
Immunizations aren’t just good for your health; they’re also good for your wallet. Getting vaccinated can save you both time and money by reducing your chances of getting sick. If you catch a vaccine-preventable disease, you will most likely need to take time off of work and seek treatment, which can result in large medical bills. By receiving immunizations against infectious diseases, you become less likely to get sick and won’t need to spend time out of work or at the doctor’s office. While immunizations may cost you a small amount of money, this cost is much less than what you could incur in medical expenses if you were to catch a dangerous disease.
4. Immunizations Can Eradicate Diseases
In addition to protecting yourself and your loved ones in the present, immunizations can also protect future generations against deadly diseases. The use of vaccines over the course of history has reduced and even eliminated some of the dangerous diseases that used to kill and severely disable a lot of people. For example, smallpox used to be a worldwide problem, but enough people received immunizations against it that the disease has now been eradicated. It’s no longer necessary to get vaccinated for smallpox since the disease no longer exists. If people continue to get vaccinated against harmful diseases that are around today, we could potentially eliminate more disease and protect future generations from them.
Stay Up to Date on Immunizations at Lakeland Drug Company
These are a few of the many reasons why immunizations are important. Here at Lakeland Drug Company, we believe immunizations are key for disease prevention. That's why we make it easy for you and your family to stay up to date on recommended vaccines. Our trained staff can administer the immunizations you need right here at our pharmacy. Reach out to us or stop by to learn more and schedule your immunizations appointment.
