Measles is also an important cause of malnutrition, poor mental growth and blindness. An unimmunized child will almost certainly be infected with the polio virus. And for every 200 children who are infected, one will be crippled for life. Tetanus germs grow in dirty cuts and kill most of the people who become infected - if they are not immunized. Breastfeeding is a kind of natural immunization against several diseases.
Immunization is urgent.
All immunizations should be completed in the first year of the child's life. Half of all deaths from whooping cough, one third of all cases of polio, and a quarter of all deaths from measles, occur before the age of one year. It is vital for infants to complete the full course of immunizations, otherwise the vaccines may not work. Some vaccines need to be given only once. Others have to be given three times, with a gap of at least four weeks between each dose.