The Importance of Early Childhood Vaccination

Lloyd Takao

Introduction Lloyd Takao, MD, an Orinda, California-based pediatrician

committed to providing personalized medical care to his patients, believes strongly in the right of patients to receive effective and safe vaccinations. Prior to becoming a pediatrician, Dr. Lloyd Takao served Children’s Hospital Oakland as a pediatrics resident.

Vaccination, a technique that imparts immunity to a wide range of serious diseases, has origins going as far back as 1100 C.E., with the first modern equivalent pioneered by Edward Jenner in 1798. Since then, vaccines have saved countless lives that may have otherwise been lost to scourges like smallpox, flu, mumps, and rubella.

Early Childhood Vaccination

Importantly, vaccines play a key role in defending the most vulnerable: children and infants. In recent years, for example, because some in the United States choose not to vaccinate their children, diseases like whooping cough have been on the rise. Over the past six years, America has seen as many as 300,000 whooping cough cases, resulting in the deaths of up to 20 infants. Parents not only protect their own children when choosing to vaccinate, they also can protect the collective children of the community by preventing the spread of illnesses like whooping cough.