Vaccination is the process of introducing a vaccine (weakened versions or dead pieces of the bacteria or virus that do not cause illness) into the body in order to produce immunity allowing the body to recognize and fight the infection in the future. Based on what is being targeted, there are different routes of administration. The most common route is by injection with a needle into the muscle or skin but some are given by nose or mouth if it is more effective and safe to do so.

• Common Vaccinations
• Children (birth to 18 years old)
• DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis/whooping cough)
• Hepatitis B
• Influenza (nasal available) – recommended every year
• MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
• Polio
• Varicella (chickenpox)
• Rotavirus (by mouth)
• Pneumococcal
  
  

Adults (19 years old and older)

Immunization is the result of a vaccination where a person’s body is better able to protect against the disease. After the vaccine is introduced, the body’s defenses identify a foreign substance and attempt to attack and destroy it. Through this initial “incidence”, the body has learned to detect and fight this disease in case it returns in the future and, ultimately, boost the body’s immune system. It accomplishes this by producing antibodies designed specifically to recognize and target the germ. The antibodies have a memory and are able to signal the defenses in the body to help get rid of the potential disease. If the actual disease infects a person who has been vaccinated, you will not become ill or it will be milder than someone who has never been exposed.

If we can get most, if not all, people vaccinated and protected, there is a chance that more diseases will become rare, like polio, and be completely eliminated in the future.