While there continues to be much controversy surrounding childhood vaccines, the scientific community is steadfast in recommending immunization shots. “Vaccinating your children according to the recommended schedule is one of the best ways you can protect them from 14 harmful and potentially deadly diseases before their second birthday,” states the American Academy of Pediatrics. August is National Immunization Awareness Month, so if you’re skeptical about immunizing your children, it’s a good time to do a little research into the risks of childhood diseases. People tend to associate a bad outcome with a recent trigger incident such as getting an immunization shot, but that’s all assumption. Scientific studies separate coincidence from cause.

And how about yourself? Adults need to keep themselves protected from tetanus, hepatitis, tuberculosis and, as we get older, the flu. When you’re a hairdresser in close contact with a lot of clients, it’s important to keep yourself safe and well, because your income is dependent upon your health.

“Most of the outbreaks reported in 2014 are direct results of an imported case spreading in an unvaccinated population,” states the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which offers a toolkit for each week in August. “Unvaccinated travelers that are infected with measles abroad continue to bring the disease into the United States; and once they do, it quickly spreads when it reaches communities with groups of people who are unvaccinated. The recent measles outbreaks underscore the importance of vaccination for people of all ages.”

To download the toolkits, visit the National Immunization Awareness Month section of the CDC website.