JACKSON, Miss. – August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH) says the best way you can help protect your children is to make sure they get all their recommended scheduled immunizations.
“Because of immunizations, children are at much less risk for infectious diseases that were once the leading cause of childhood death,” said MSDH State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier.
Immunizations help to protect children from 14 serious diseases before they turn two-years old, and certain vaccinations are required by state law in order to enter public or private school, Head Start or day care. “Mississippi is one of two states with the strongest immunization requirements in the nation,” explained Currier. “We only allow valid medical exemptions, which helps keep us from experiencing outbreaks of diseases as in other states. Unnecessary exemptions put infants – too young to be vaccinated – at risk and make serious illness more likely for the few who have genuine medical reasons to be exempt.”
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