Vaccines are a ritual of childhood, and for good reason: They play a key role in helping your child avoid serious diseases and the deadly complications they can cause.
Still, many parents are confused about the vaccine process — why these shots are important, and which ones their child needs.
At Healthy Life Family Medicine in Goodyear, Arizona, John Monroe, MD and his team helps parents understand the vital role of vaccines, providing immunization recommendations based on your child’s age and other factors. Here’s what they want you to know about childhood vaccines and your child’s health.
When we’re born, we have a certain amount of built-in immunity (or innate immunity) that’s passed on from our mothers prior to birth. Innate immunity involves a broad immune response that helps keep many harmful pathogens from causing disease or infections.
While innate immunity is certainly important, it’s not strong enough or expansive enough to protect your child from many serious, even deadly, diseases. That’s where vaccines come in.
To understand how vaccines work, you need to know a little bit about antibodies. When your body senses a germ invader, your immune system goes to work to produce antibodies specifically designed to battle that germ.
After that initial infection, your immune system remembers the germ-antibody connection. That means that if you get infected again by the same germ, your immune system automatically ramps up production of the antibodies needed to prevent a serious infection.
Vaccines mimic this process by introducing tiny amounts of germs or inactivated germs to prompt antibody production without actually causing an infection. Because each antibody is unique to one specific germ, we need multiple vaccines to protect us against multiple diseases.
Because we also develop antibodies through natural exposure, you might be tempted to think it’s OK to skip vaccines and allow your child to develop antibodies by becoming infected.
But there’s a problem — a big one: Infections are hard to control, and if an infection overwhelms your child’s natural defenses, they can develop serious complications, like blindness or intellectual disabilities. They could even die.
Vaccines provide your child with the same antibodies, but without exposing them to potentially disabling or deadly disease.
While there are some vaccines you need as an adult (an annual flu vaccine, shingles vaccine, and pneumonia vaccine, for instance), most immunizations are given during childhood. The CDC maintains a list of recommended childhood vaccines, including:
Some vaccines are given as single doses, while others are given as a series of two or more, spaced out over weeks, months, or years. Not all vaccines are given at the same ages, either. Some are recommended during infancy and the toddler years, while others are given later.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone: It’s a lot of information to keep track of. Fortunately, our team stays abreast of the most up-to-date vaccine recommendations, providing guidance based on your child’s age and other factors.
Immunizations are vitally important for keeping your child healthy during childhood and beyond — in fact, many vaccines your child receives now confer a lifetime of protection against many serious illnesses.
To learn more about childhood vaccines and to make sure your child is up to date on their immunizations, call 623-889-3477 to book your appointment at Healthy Life Family Medicine today.
