Your child. Their future. The choice is yours. North American children are now the most vaccinated in the world. Children receive approximately thirty-three doses of ten vaccines before the age of five. Not only do children need a separate vaccine for most diseases (hepatitis B, polio, Hib, and chickenpox are single vaccines; DTaP and MMR are multiple), but they generally need more than one dose of each vaccine. Due to the many vaccines required, vaccination is an extremely controversial topic in the United States today. Whatever your opinion on vaccination, one thing is certain: choosing whether or not to get vaccinated is a decision that can have a significant impact on your health and, more importantly, that of your children. the rest of their lives. The idea behind vaccines is to provide the body with just enough of a disease-causing substance to trigger the body to produce antibodies against that substance. By injecting weak or dead infectious agents through the skin, it is believed that the body will create the appropriate immune defense. Infants are born with antibodies that they received from their mothers through the placenta. Breastfed infants continue to receive many important antibodies in colostrum (the thick, yellowish breast milk that is secreted during the first few days after a woman gives birth) and in breast milk. During the first year of life, the immunity an infant receives from its mother at birth fades. To help strengthen the ability to fight certain diseases, vaccines are administered. Once the antibodies are produced, they stay there, protecting the child from the disease they were designed to protect against. Stephanie Cave, a physician, said the problem is widely documented...... middle of paper ..... "The longer you wait, the more likely your child's immune system will be able to withstand the onslaught with minimal damage” (Sarah). I am not suggesting that we return to an era without vaccines. But we must seriously address what appears to be a clear link between the epidemic of developmental delays, autoimmune diseases and the increasing number of mandatory vaccines. Every parent should know the benefits as well as the dangers associated with each vaccine, each time it is administered. They need to know the positive and negative consequences of refusing vaccinations for their children and how they can go about obtaining exemptions. Additionally, government, industry, healthcare professionals and parents must come together to conduct the necessary research to determine the safety of these vaccines. The stakes are too high for us to do otherwise.