How Do Vaccines Work?
Before any meaningful exchange of information about the benefit and risk of vaccines can take place, parents must understand how vaccines protect children from infections. Vaccines are completely different from antibiotics. Antibiotics are prescribed to help fight a bacterial infection that has established itself inside the body. Vaccines prevent infections from establishing themselves in the first place. This makes vaccination a superior strategy in fighting infectious agents. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.
An FBI File
Giving your child a vaccine against a bad germ is equivalent to setting up an FBI file for that germ in your child's body. Most vaccines are made from bits and pieces of the bad germ. When your doctor gives your child a vaccine, it's like she's distributing flyers of the most-wanted bad germs all over your child's body.
After a vaccination, your child's immune system is alerted to the presence of a particular bad germ and is prepared to do battle against it if it ever appears in the body again. If that particular germ tries to infiltrate your child's immunologic defense, the immune system is alerted immediately. Before the bad germ can make any inroads, it is caught and exterminated. Vaccines in no way weaken the immune system. If anything, they empower your child's body in its defenses and beef up the border patrol against unauthorized germ invasion.
Booster Shots
The effect of most vaccines does not last forever. As the FBI file gets old, it tends to collect dust and get pushed behind some cabinet. Over a long period of time, it can even be lost or forgotten. The immune system's memory isn't perfect, and that's why your child often requires several booster shots for the same infectious agent. Getting these booster shots is just as important as getting the primary vaccine. You can't afford to have your child's immunity lose track of these dangerous bad guys.
Alert!
Don't forget that even adults need to get shots once in a long while. A tetanus booster is required periodically throughout life, once every ten years. If you are unsure when you got your last tetanus booster, check with your doctor. It's only fair for your child to get to see Daddy and Mommy get shots sometimes, too.
The boosters are typically scheduled at predetermined intervals. If they are given too early or too close together, the booster effect is not optimized. If the memory of a criminal germ is still fresh in the immune system's mind, it is a waste to provide the immune system with another reminder. Taking your child to the pediatrician at the instructed intervals is crucial in keeping your child's immune system as effective as possible.
