Feature Article — Babies’ Immune Systems: What Can They Handle?

When babies are born, they leave the sterile environment of the womb and enter a world filled with germs. Bacteria very quickly start to live on the lining of their noses, mouths and intestines, as well as on their skin. They also come into contact with viruses. In most cases, their immune systems are ready and able to protect them against the most harmful infections.

Soon after birth, babies are also recommended to get vaccines. Some people wonder if the vaccines are too great of an assault on their immune systems, but the reality is that babies’ immune systems encounter more challenges from the environment than from vaccines. Indeed, a scraped knee or the common cold is a greater challenge to the immune system than vaccines.

In this new Science Made Easy video, Dr. Offit describes what babies’ immune systems can handle in the first few months of life, which parts of the immune system need time to mature, and how vaccines given during that time period are designed to help babies overcome some of these challenges.

Go to the video page to watch Babies’ Immune Systems: What Can They Handle?

Additional resources

For more information about the immune system, check out these other Vaccine Education Center resources:

• Human Immune System website section — This comprehensive section of the website includes information about how the immune system develops, how it works, its different components, the different types of immunity, and what happens when the immune system does not work properly.
• Maternal Antibodies and Vaccines — In this Science Made Easy video, Dr. Paul Offit discusses the recommended immunization schedule and how maternal antibodies are taken into account when developing the schedule.
• Video animations — The Vaccine Makers Project of the Vaccine Education Center offers two video animations that explain how the innate and adaptive parts of the immune system work together to fight infections.