The week of April 26-May 3 is National Infant Immunization Week and it is also the 20th anniversary of this observance. Vaccinations are becoming a more controversial topic among parents, doctors and schools. The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the recent anti-vaccination movement is leading to an outbreak of whooping cough and the measles in some states.
A couple looks at Infant Care pamphlet at GPO Bookstore: GPO Archives.
Before you could Google information on vaccinations and family healthcare topics and have every answer at your fingertips, government publications were the go-to source for consumer information. This former trend is evident in the fact that a pamphlet entitled Infant Care is still to this day considered GPO’s all-time best seller. Infant Care was first published in 1914 by the Children’s Bureau and provided mothers with information in a low-cost form on how to care for their babies. (Read more about the history of the Children’s Bureau in The Children’s Bureau Legacy: Ensuring the Right to Childhood (ePub eBook) available on the U.S. Government Bookstore.) Over the course of seven decades it remained a bestseller with multiple editions published and translations in eight languages as well as Braille.
100 years ago, this was the advice on vaccination of infants. Excerpt from 1914 Infant Care pamphlet.
The original Infant Care pamphlets can be seen on this archive. However, Vaccines for Children (VCF), a federally funded program handled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides no-cost vaccine services to help ensure that all children, from infancy to adolescent, have a better chance of getting their recommended vaccinations.
Image source courtesy of CDC http://www.cdc.gov/features/vfcprogram
Like Infant Care, the government still has helpful publications to help parents and the public make health-related decisions. Parent’s Guide to Childhood Immunizations and Immunization Tool Kit are just two of the many government publications available on the immunization and vaccination topic.
Parent’s Guide to Childhood Immunizations is kind of like a “vaccinations for dummies.” It is a great resource that explains each disease, the vaccinations schedule, what to do before, during and after the immunization doctor visit, how vaccines work, other FAQs and additional print and electronic resources. The most helpful part of this booklet is the breakdown of each disease with information on what causes the disease, how it is spread, the signs and symptoms and complications. To brighten up what can be a scary subject, the booklet includes colorful child artwork.
Immunization Tool Kit focuses on adult, military and childhood immunizations. This resource is made up of laminated 4X6 color coded cards held together by a ring for fast flipping making it durable and likely intended for military or health care providers, people who need a quick reference on the job. The cards are organized by immunizations for adults and the military and children with detailed information about each vaccine including a dosage, indications or who should get the vaccine, contraindications or reasons why someone should not be vaccinated and special considerations. Some of the cards have amusing caricatures of what the diseases look like. For medical personnel, there is a section on the storage and handling instructions of each vaccine. While the amount of information may seem overwhelming, the toolkit will be able to answer all or any question about vaccines.
HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE PUBLICATIONS ON VACCINATION?
Shop Online Anytime: You can buy these publications (with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide) from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore website at http://bookstore.gpo.gov:
- Shop our entire Immunization and Vaccination collection
Order by Phone: You may also Order print editions by calling our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.
Shop our Retail Store:Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.
Visit a Federal Depository Library:Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications or CGP.
About the author: Our guest blogger is Emma Wojtowicz, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Office of Public Affairs.
Additional content, images and editing provided by Trudy Hawkins, a writer and marketing specialist in GPO’s Publication & Information Sales Division supporting the U.S. Government Online Bookstore (http://bookstore.gpo.gov).
Posted by Trudy Hawkins 
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Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 