Immunizations

What are immunizations?

Immunizations, or vaccines, are preventive injections that boost your child’s immunity to infectious illnesses. After an immunization, your child’s immune system learns to recognize the specific pathogen and can later eliminate it from their body efficiently. 

Vaccines include either weakened, inactive, or partial viruses or other pathogens. These safe, non-infectious components will not make your child sick like the full, active pathogen would. 

Many vaccines require at least two doses, and all of them go through lots of rigorous testing before they’re available to the public. 

Vaccine formulas can include suspending fluid like saline, which makes them liquid and easy to inject. They may also include components like salts or preservatives to make them more effective or increase their shelf lives. 

Which immunizations do my child need?

Caring Pediatrics helps you keep up with the recommended vaccination schedule for your child, which includes numerous vaccines. 

Your child’s first immunizations take place during their first week of life. Others become available throughout the first year, and some must be delivered or updated throughout childhood and adolescence. 

Immunizations are available for infectious diseases like:

• Hepatitis B
• Diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (DTaP)
• Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)
• Polio
• Pneumococcal
• Rotavirus
• Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)
• Hepatitis A
• HPV
• Meningococcal
  
  

Starting at six months of age, your child should get the annual flu vaccine each year in the fall. This vaccine changes from year to year because different strains of influenza become active each flu season. 

What are the benefits of immunizations? 

Immunizations significantly reduce your child’s chances of getting a serious or even fatal illness, but that isn’t their sole benefit. When the majority of the population gets them, the diseases become far less prevalent and can even disappear from society almost entirely. 

By getting necessary immunizations, your child can protect those around them from the same serious illnesses that the vaccines protect them from. 

While they can cause a few side effects for some people, the benefits of immunizations far outweigh any drawbacks for individuals and communities. 

If you have any questions about the immunizations available for your child, the team at Caring Pediatrics can answer them and provide you with more information about how they work. 

Immunizations are a highly important part of your child’s preventive medical care, starting during early infancy. To get a full immunization schedule for your child, call Caring Pediatrics or use the online booking tool to make an appointment today.