What are immunizations?

Immunizations help protect you or your child from disease. They also help reduce the spread of disease to others and prevent epidemics. Most are given as shots. They are sometimes called vaccines, or vaccinations.

In many cases when you get a vaccine, you get a tiny amount of a weakened or dead form of the organism that causes the disease. This amount is not enough to give you the actual disease. But it is enough to cause your immune system to make antibodies that can recognize and attack the organism if you are ever exposed to it.

Sometimes a vaccine does not completely prevent the disease, but it will make the disease much less serious if you do get it.

Some immunizations are given only one time. Others require several doses over time.

Why should you get immunized?

• Immunizations protect you or your child from dangerous diseases.
• They help reduce the spread of disease to others.
• Getting immunized costs less than getting treated for the diseases that the shots protect you from.
• Vaccines have very few serious side effects.
• They are often needed for entrance into school or day care. And they may be needed for employment or for travel to another country.

If you are a woman who is planning to get pregnant, talk to your doctor about what immunizations you have had and what you may need to protect your baby. And if you live with a pregnant woman, make sure that your vaccines are up to date.

Traveling to other countries may be another reason to get immunized. Talk with your doctor 6 months before you leave, to see if you need any shots.

What immunizations are recommended for children and adolescents?

Ask your doctor what shots your child should get. The immunization schedule includes vaccines for:

• Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (also known as whooping cough).
• Polio.
• Measles, mumps, and rubella.
• Chickenpox.
• Rotavirus.
• Bacterial meningitis.
• Hepatitis B.
• Hepatitis A.
• Human papillomavirus (HPV).
• Haemophilus influenzae type b disease, or Hib disease. This infection can lead to serious illness in young children, including pneumonia and meningitis.
• Pneumococcal disease. This infection can also cause pneumonia and meningitis, as well as other serious illnesses, in young children.
• Flu (influenza). This vaccine is not given to children younger than 6 months.

Immunizations start right after birth, and many are given throughout a baby's first 23 months. Booster shots (the later doses of any vaccines that need to be repeated over time) occur throughout life.

Fewer immunizations are needed after age 6. But older children and teens need shots too (such as those for bacterial meningitis and for tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough). Some shots are also given during adulthood (such as a tetanus shot).