We often think that the only ones needing immunizations are those going abroad or youngsters enrolling in kindergarten. But that's not so. Everyone can benefit. August is designated as National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). The goal is to increase awareness about the need for immunizations for all, from infants to the elderly. 

Before vaccines, many children died from diseases (including whooping cough, measles and polio) that vaccines now prevent. The germs still exist, but because we protect babies with vaccines, the diseases don't appear as often.

If you had chicken pox as a child, you became sick. But if you are exposed again to those germs, you won't get sick because you have immunity. That's basically how a vaccine works. A vaccination puts killed or weakened germs into your blood stream. Your body destroys the vaccine germs just as they would the disease germs. (Think of it as a training exercise.) The vaccine stays in your body to keep you healthy if you are ever exposed to the real disease.

If the cost is more then you can afford, look into the federal government's Vaccines for Children program, which offers vaccines at no cost from doctors enrolled in the program. Learn more about the importance of vaccines at the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition website.

Who else can benefit from an immunization? Teenagers going off to college for the first time are at a slightly increased risk for bacterial meningitis if they will be living in a dorm. Vaccinate your child before heading to college. And those over age 65 are susceptible to shingles (herpes zoster), a painful disease related to chicken pox.