Immunizing Children (Practical Guides for General Practice)

The aim of this book is to encourage health workers to achieve the highest immunization levels possible. Immunization offers protection to the individual, prevents substantial outbreaks of infectious disease, and in the case of smallpox, has led to the world-wide eradication of a serious, lethal disease. With high levels of immunization uptake, a "herd immunity" is achieved, which helps protect those children who cannot be immunized. The book provides information on history taking, consent, record keeping, storage, information retrieval, and new vaccines, and advocates the use of immunization uptake levels as a measure of the effectiveness of the primary health care team.