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Vaccines are a critical part of pediatric care, and they’re something the team of premier pediatric care specialists at Advanced Pediatrics in Vienna, Virginia, feels passionate about. If your child needs a vaccine, call the office to schedule a visit today or book using the easy online scheduling page in just a few moments.
Vaccines Q & A
What are vaccines?
Vaccines provide your child’s immune system with a training course in fighting off a range of different diseases. Research shows that not only do vaccines effectively protect individuals against serious infection, but they also protect entire communities and societies from infectious diseases.
Vaccines are injectable substances that trigger your immune system to fight off infection. The process of developing this protection is referred to as immunization. Herd immunity is the term used to describe what occurs when the majority of any given population receives vaccines for a particular disease.
When most people in a community are vaccinated, that disease has nowhere to set up shop. This limits the ability of the pathogen to spread from one person to the next and therefore prevents spread throughout the group.
How do vaccines work?
The best way to understand how vaccines work is to think about how your immune system naturally fights off disease. When you encounter a specific virus, bacteria, or fungus (antigens), your body launches a swift response, creating antibodies to battle that specific antigen.
This process only needs to occur once to develop everything needed to fight off that same antigen for life. Some vaccines require boosters to create optimal immunity. Your immune system does all this work naturally, but it takes a few days to complete the full process. The problem is some diseases are so strong that they can overwhelm you before you develop immunity.
Vaccines work by using a very small volume or a weakened version of an antigen to stimulate your natural immune response without making you sick.
Are vaccines safe?
The scientific evidence makes it very clear that not only are vaccines safe, but they also prevent innumerable needless deaths around the world. There’s no reason for parents to feel anxious or concerned about having their children vaccinated.
In fact, the team at Advanced Pediatrics feels so strongly about the power of vaccines to preserve health that each and every team member is vaccinated according to the schedule outlined by the nation’s top health authorities.
Adhering to the established vaccine schedule is a requirement to receive services at Advanced Pediatrics. Parents who have questions or concerns about vaccines are welcome to speak with a pediatrician to learn more.
Booking a visit is as simple as a phone call or a few moments online, so make today the day you take action to protect your child from many forms of infectious disease.