Keep up with immunizations

PROVO — Utah County's kickoff celebration for National Infant Immunization Week wasn't much fun for Maddyx Davies.

The screams that followed the three shots in the 3 1/2-month-old boy's thighs got that message across loud and clear.

It wasn't exactly a party for Maddyx's mother, either.

"We don't like to see him cry," Shelley Davies said, "but we believe in immunization."

Maddyx received his second series of immunizations Thursday afternoon in front of national, state and county health officials and members of the media at the Utah County Health and Justice Building.

Being in the spotlight is nothing new for Maddyx — Utah's New Year's baby for 2006. Maddyx was born just four seconds into 2006 at Mountain View Hospital in Payson.

He also has been selected by the Utah County Health Department as the "model baby" for 2006. The health department will be tracking the Santaquin boy's immunizations throughout the year, said Joseph Miner, director of the county's health department.

Thursday's event was a forerunner of National Infant Immunization Week, which runs Saturday through April 29.

Throughout the week, health officials nationwide will be focusing on the benefits of immunizations and the importance of immunizing infants against vaccine-preventable diseases.

"Immunizations are one of the greatest accomplishments of modern public health," said Melinda Wharton, acting deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Program.

Still, there are many parents — especially young ones — who fail to recognize the importance of immunizing their children, Wharton said.

The success of immunizations over the past 50 years in reducing cases of diseases such as polio, diphtheria and mumps have made some parents complacent, she said.

"It's difficult for people now to understand how feared a disease like polio was," Wharton said, noting that 2006 marks the 51st anniversary of the polio vaccine.

Though only 25, Shelley Davies says she understands the seriousness of the disease. Her mother and one of her uncles both had polio, and that's part of the reason Davies said she's diligent in getting her three children immunized.

"There are a lot of diseases today," she said. "Why wouldn't we want to take advantage of (immunizations)?"