I’ve had this conversation at least ten times a day since the swine flu has been at the forefront of people’s minds: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VACCINATION AND IMMUNIZATION. Vaccination is simply an injection of a virus, usually weaker or entirely killed, and immunization means that someone will never get the disease.
This week I’m actually writing this blog from home, with my son who has chicken pox. He could have gotten the vaccination for this disease, but we (his mom and I) decided he didn’t need it. So now he’s covered with blisters, and he’s doing just fine, watching videos and playing games, reading books with dad.
Because he got the full-on wild type of chicken pox, he’ll be immunized from the disease. Our neighbors down the street decided for the vaccination. Is their child immunized? Maybe.
The difficult thing for any parent, especially for a chiropractor, is to limit the risks for our child(ren) if it’s the right choice for you, it’s the right choice.