Vaccination is the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves and our children against ill health. They prevent millions of deaths worldwide every year.
Since vaccines were introduced in the UK, diseases like smallpox, polio and tetanus that used to kill or disable millions of people are either gone or are now very rarely seen.
Other diseases like measles and diphtheria have reduced to a very low number of cases each year since vaccines were introduced. These cases are often related to travel.
However, if people stop having vaccines, it’s possible for infectious diseases to quickly spread again.
What vaccines do?
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help to protect you and your child from many serious and potentially deadly diseases
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protect other people in your family and community – by helping to stop diseases spreading to people who cannot have vaccines, such as babies too young to be vaccinated and those who are too ill to be vaccinated
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undergo rigorous safety testing before being introduced – they’re also constantly monitored for side effects after being introduced
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sometimes cause mild side effects that will not last long – you may feel a bit unwell and have a sore arm for 2 or 3 days
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reduce or even get rid of some diseases – if enough people are vaccinated
What vaccines don’t do?
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do not overload or weaken the immune system – it’s safe to give children and adults several vaccines at a time and this reduces the amount of injections needed
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do not contain mercury (thiomersal)
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do not contain any ingredients that cause harm – only ingredients essential to making them safer and more effective and only in very small amounts
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do not cause autism – studies have found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism
How vaccination work?
Vaccines teach your immune system how to create antibodies that protect you from diseases.
It’s much safer for your immune system to learn this through vaccination than by catching the diseases and treating them.
Once your immune system knows how to fight a disease, it can often give you life long protection.
