Tips from Cerner: Vaccines

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Flu vaccinations are currently available through SOV:  Register Today!


Let’s face it, our lives are busy. Some aspects of our health may fall by the wayside due to family and work commitments. We know it is important to work on daily lifestyle habits like sleep, nutrition, and exercise. It is equally important to stay on top of your preventive health. What are you doing to prevent disease? One thing you can do is schedule a routine checkup to make sure you’re properly vaccinated. Back-to-school season is a great time to make sure your vaccines are current.

Vaccines are an important part of public health. They prevent the spread of contagious and deadly diseases. Smallpox killed 300-500 million people worldwide before the first vaccine was created. The smallpox vaccine worked so well that the World Health Assembly declared the world free of the disease on May 8, 1980. The U.S. had already eliminated the disease in 1972.

Polio is another disease that caused thousands of deaths. This disease disabled more than 35,000 people each year. Thanks to the vaccine and parents who vaccinate their children on schedule, polio was declared eliminated in the United States in 1979. An unvaccinated person recently caught the virus in July 2022. Public health experts are working to understand how and where this person was infected. They are also pushing residents in the area to make sure they are currently vaccinated to prevent the spread of polio. There is no cure for polio, but it is preventable.

We are also seeing an increase in measles and whooping cough. Although measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, it has been reintroduced. This resurgence in preventable diseases could be due to a decrease in routine vaccinations in recent years. Vaccines are your best protection against measles or other contagious diseases. Routine vaccinations can prevent 16 deadly diseases.

Vaccines work by building your natural immunity to disease before you get it. Your symptoms of the disease will be much easier to recover from even if you get sick. Getting the suggested shots each year helps decrease your risk of hospitalization or death. Being fully immunized protects you and your family. It also helps prevent the spread of diseases to those around you. Check with your primary care provider to see which vaccines are right for you.

Source: CDC.gov, HHS.gov, AAFP.org


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