April health topic: immunizations
April’s health topic is immunizations, a process that prepares the immune system to fight off a particular pathogen.
When a virus or bacteria invades an individual, the body’s immune system is provided the challenge of fighting off this infection. Various immune cells which live in the blood become activated to fight off this infection. They use chemical signals to recruit other immune cells, signal for the body temperature to rise, and continue to attack the offending pathogen through various processes. Different types of memory cells remain in the blood long after the infection has been conquered and are prepared to fight that same pathogen when it is encountered again; this is the basic concept of “immunity.” Vaccines function on the same principle, but instead of an individual suffering through the entirety of an infection, a weakened form of the pathogen is introduced to a person. This will prompt a similar immune response resulting in the creation of memory cells that prepare the immune system to fight off that pathogen when encountered in the future. Some individuals may experience a short fever or other mild symptoms after a vaccine and this is due to the immune system being stimulated in a similar manner to being exposed to the full strength pathogen. “Booster shots” help refresh the immune system so it will always be ready to fight an infection.
Scientists have taken advantage of the above principles to make vaccines that prevent serious and sometimes deadly diseases. Some illnesses such as polio have been eliminated in the US as a result of vaccination. Certain vaccinations are recommended for pregnant women such as the influenza vaccine as well as the Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis) vaccine, which includes protection for both mom and baby from pertussis (whooping cough). Whooping cough cases have been on the rise over the past 20 years and unvaccinated adults are a major source of exposure. Approximately 50% of infants who get whooping cough require hospitalization, and the disease can be deadly. Thus, immunizing pregnant woman and the population at large can prevent hospitalization of infants; this is an example of the public health benefit from a single vaccine. In addition, the HPV vaccine is one of the latest vaccines that targets two serotypes of the HPV virus which account for 70% of the cervical cancer burden worldwide.
Vaccines are a safe, effective, and very important public health tool to protect you, your family, and the individuals who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons from dangerous diseases. Your family doctor in the Washington Health System will be happy to check if you are up to date on your immunizations and answer any questions you might have. Meanwhile, click the link below to the Centers for Disease Control website on immunizations and a recent World Health Organization article.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/2/07-040089/en/
Dr. Theo Rogers was born in Flint, Michigan, and grew up in Newark, Delaware and North Canton, Ohio. He graduated from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and obtained his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. After training, he plans to pursue a fellowship in obstetrics with the goal of providing full-scope family medical care in an underserved community.