The First Step...
Everyone knows that vaccinations are shots in the arm, but what exactly are inside vaccinations? Why do they sometimes cause bothersome side effects? And how do they help protect us from all manner of diseases? Read more to learn about the fundamentals of vaccination.
The Immune System
Before we can begin to understand vaccinations, we need to learn how our bodies’ immune systems function.
Specifically, our immune system is geared to respond to invasions by foreign entities (bacteria, viruses) that may cause disease. Primarily, the immune system uses white blood cells--either macrophages (cells that swallow and digest antigen attackers), B-lymphocytes (defensive, antibody-producing cells), or T-lymphocytes (cells that recognize recurring infections)--to combat disease.
When our bodies are first exposed to an infection, the immune system often needs several days to create and utilize the proper tools to fight off the disease, but our bodies retain and remember the methods by which we successfully defeat infection.
Here’s where vaccines come in. Vaccines offer a safe, effective way of imitating a disease for the purposes of “training” our immune systems to handle harmful diseases in an altered, weakened state.
Please note that the protective effects of vaccinations do not occur overnight! Rather, it may take several weeks for the body to produce the lymphocytes that may recognize the infection and produce necessary defensive measures to fight off disease.
Thus, at Vaccines4Good, we highly encourage everyone to vaccinate as soon as possible--before Oct 31 for flu vaccinations especially, because flu season peaks between December and February.
It's also important to remember that many vaccines--especially for children--will require more than one dose! Certain vaccines require multiple doses to ensure complete immunity, while others will wear away with time. Flu vaccines specifically must be updated annually because the influenza virus mutates and changes each year, making vaccinations from previous years ineffective.
Stay tuned and updated for future vaccine clinics, and make sure to get your flu vaccinations this year as soon as possible!
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