Diseases & vaccinations

Vaccines help protect BC families from a range of dangerous diseases. But it wasn't always this way. Deadly infections like meningococcal disease and whooping cough (pertussis) once killed a terrible number of children every year.

Today, thanks to regular vaccination, we've dramatically reduced the damage done by those diseases. Yet they still pose a threat. In places like Ireland where immunization rates have dropped off, outbreaks of diseases like measles have soon followed – with fatal results.

Find out more about these diseases, and how you can protect your child. (And while you're at it, check out the vaccines that every adult should have – as well as the shots you'll need if you're travelling.)