Importance of Immunization Programs for Children

This article discusses the importance and benefits of immunization programs for children. It highlights the Queensland Immunization policy and the schedule of immunization for infants and mothers. The article emphasizes the role of nurses and other healthcare providers in delivering effective immunization programs. It also talks about the success of immunization programs in reducing the incidences of infectious illnesses. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for every child to receive vaccination and how it can prevent fatal infectious diseases and protect children from a broad spectrum of diseases.

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Child and Family Nursing Practice
The Queensland Immunization policy has a clear schedule of immunization for infants
and mothers. Every child over 6 months old and below the age of 5 years is eligible for
vaccination for influenza, funded by the state(MacDonald et al., 2018). There is a provision for
whooping cough vaccination within 20 to 32 weeks of pregnancy for the mothers. Other vaccines
include Hepatitis B and Pneumonia usually given before 12 months of age. However, the
Pneumonia vaccine can be given in later stages or adults as well.
Daiyu Zhang experienced three successive miscarriage incidents in her life and given
birth to a baby girl Lucy on the fourth attempt. It is obvious that she is over-possessive and
concerned regarding Lucy’s health. They also belong to a different community where traditional
medicines are given huge importance (McHugh, Crooks, Creighton, Binks, & Andrews, 2019).
As a result, Lucy was not given the due course of immunization by their parents and she is now 3
years old already. It is essential to make them understand that one of the most effective public
health interventions is the immunization programs for children. There is no harm or potential
danger in the immunization of young children and babies. It is the lack of immunization that may
pose a life-threatening condition to Lucy.

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Immunization is thought to have significantly contributed to the general rise in the
lifespan of individuals (Hadjipanayis, 2019). According to WHO estimation, between two and
three million fatalities worldwide each year are prevented by immunization through the
elimination of fatal infectious diseases (MacDonald et al., 2018). To deliver effective
immunization programs, nurses along with other health care providers play an essential role. The
incidences of infectious illnesses such as bacterial septicemia, meningitis, rubella, and measles
have been reduced significantly in high-performance immunization programs in Australia and
other developed countries. Given the success of the immunization programs, several
communicable diseases are reoccurring due to under-vaccinated communities (Rieckmann et al.,
2019).
Moreover, there is no evidence of interactions between immunization and traditional
Chinese medicines. So, Daiyu can safely immunize her daughter, which will make her safer
against communal and infectious diseases. She can at the same time use traditional medicines if
she falls. The children benefit from immunization all through their lives. In Queensland, it is
significant to have an extensive immunization program to safeguard the health of the population.
The immunization at the early stages of life protects the babies and children against a broad
spectrum of diseases. It is not important for the short term benefits but also has long-term
consequences. Childhood vaccination has already been successful in decreasing precancerous
phases of cervical cancer in adult females. The Queensland vaccination policy strongly
recommends vaccination of every child. Daiyu’s children are already at risk for not receiving the
vaccination on time. They should be administered the vaccines as early as possible. There is no
threat to the children due to these vaccines and most of the other children in the community have
already received their dose of vaccine. However, the current social and health policy has a

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positive impact on Daiyu and her family members and now they are considering vaccination for
their children.

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References
Hadjipanayis, A. (2019). Compliance with vaccination schedules. Human vaccines &
immunotherapeutics, 15(4), 1003-1004.
MacDonald, N. E., Harmon, S., Dube, E., Steenbeek, A., Crowcroft, N., Opel, D. J., . . . Butler,
R. (2018). Mandatory infant & childhood immunization: Rationales, issues, and
knowledge gaps. Vaccine, 36(39), 5811-5818.
McHugh, L., Crooks, K., Creighton, A., Binks, M., & Andrews, R. M. (2019). Safety, equity,
and monitoring: A review of the gaps in maternal vaccination strategies for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander women. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics(just-
accepted).
Rieckmann, A., Hærskjold, A., Benn, C. S., Aaby, P., Lange, T., & Sørup, S. (2019). Measles,
mumps, and rubella vs diphtheria-tetanus–acellular-pertussis–inactivated-polio–
Haemophilus influenzae type b as the most recent vaccine and risk of early ‘childhood
asthma’. International journal of epidemiology.