Vaccines

Hepatitis Vaccine

There are a couple different types of Hepatitis vaccines that each person needs to get to stay safe. Hepatitis A is a serious condition that can affect the ability for your liver to function properly. You can get Hepatitis A by sharing food and drinks with an infected individual. It is highly contagious so the very best way to prevent getting it is to get vaccinated. Most people who contract Hepatitis A have to be hospitalized for treatment and it can result in death in more severe cases.

Children are generally given the Hepatitis A vaccine at the age of 12 months and again after six months has passed. Adults who plan on traveling to various countries including Central America, South America, Mexico, Asia, Japan, and Africa should get a Hepatitis A vaccine even if they had one as a child as a precautionary measure.

MMR Vaccine

The MMR vaccine is designed to protect individuals from contracting mumps, measles, and rubella. Children should get an MMR at 12 months of age and then get an MMR booster before they start kindergarten. This is the most common type of vaccine used around the world. It is estimated that at least 500 million MMR vaccines have been administered.

Most people have no side effects from an MMR vaccine other than some tenderness in the area for a couple of days. Some people do experience an allergic reaction to an MMR vaccine though. This can result in swollen glands, aching joints and muscles, and a fever that lasts for a couple of days.

Bird Flu Vaccine

Avian Influenza, more commonly known as Bird Flu, generally affects only birds. There have been recent cases though associated with humans. The first confirmed case of Bird Flu in humans was sited in 1997. There is a Bird Flu vaccine that can be administered in the even that a person may have been infected.

There are several different strains of Bird Flu and throughout the years different medications including Amantadine, Rimantadine, Oseltamavir, and Zanamavir were administered. A Bird Flu vaccine was developed in 2006 by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh.

Polio Vaccine

Polio used to be a very serious disease that can result in death due to the affect it has on the respiratory system, and the nervous system. Those who didn’t die from the disease suffered from paralysis and serious bouts of flu like symptoms that lasted for weeks at a time.

Polio is no longer a concern due to the introduction of the polio vaccine in 1955 that was developed by a scientist named Jonas Salk. The worst period of time for polio was 1952 with about 60,000 new cases that year alone. With the introduction of the very effective vaccine, polio was non-existent in the United States by 1979. It is still reported in many underdeveloped countries around the world.

Vaccines

A vaccine is an injection that is designed to prevent various illnesses and diseases. The process involves injecting a weak version of the live virus into the person to help them build immunity to it. As the body reacts to the vaccine, they destroy the agents in them because they are foreign. This information is stored in the mind and the body. Therefore if it is subjected to those agents again it will neutralize them before they enter the body.

Vaccines have proven to be effective beyond anyone’s imagination. They have almost completely wiped out various diseases that were once a major epidemic in the United States including polio and small pox. To get the most benefits and protection from vaccines, it is important to follow the vaccine schedule set up by your child’s doctor. Several of the vaccines can be given at the same time to cut down on the number of trips to the doctor.