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The world’s first vaccine was discovered in 1798 – a medicine to develop immunity against smallpox. Ever since then, science has made great strides in developing a vaccination for all sorts of medical conditions that were otherwise incurable.
Here is everything you need to know about vaccination.
What is Vaccination?
Vaccination is defined as using less harmful bits of bacteria and viruses to help the body develop immunity against a more dangerous disease or condition. The human body is very unique, and it is only due to the evolution that we have been able to develop immunity to various diseases. You might have heard that you can only catch chickenpox only once in your life. This is because your body develops immunity against it and will efficiently fight against the disease in the future.
Vaccination Procedure
The process of getting vaccinated is very brief. The patient who needs to get vaccinated will just be given a small, safe dose of certain bacteria that can otherwise prove to be lethal in the long run. The patient may see symptoms of being struck by disease for a few days, but the symptoms will then vanish – never to be seen again. When this happens, the patient has finally gained vaccination or immunity against a disease.
When Do People Get Vaccinated?
People usually get vaccinated against most diseases right after birth. Collectively 14 vaccinations are given to children before the age of 6. The diseases which children are vaccinated against are:
Chickenpox – a highly contagious disease that can be very dangerous for people with a weak immune system.
Diphtheria – a toxic disease that can lead to heart failure and even death.
Influenza – a viral flu disease that can make it very difficult to breathe.
Hepatitis B – a viral infection that can attack the liver to cause acute and chronic diseases.
Measles – a contagious disease with life-threatening fevers of over 104°F.
Hib – a bacteria responsible for pneumonia and other invasive diseases.
Mumps – a swelling of certain parts of the body that can cause severe fever and muscle aches.
Whooping cough – A highly contagious disease that is transmitted from mouth to mouth, whooping cough can last for many weeks.
Polio – a disease that can lead to paralysis in many parts of the body.
Rubella – a contagious disease that can cause red rashes and can be lethal for unborn babies.
Tetanus – also known as lockjaw, can lead to stiffness of the muscles and make it extremely painful to move.
Pneumococcal – an infection that can prove to be lethal through blood poisoning, pneumonia, and meningitis.
Meningococcal – a disease with a high mortality rate but is otherwise very rare.
Rotavirus – a contagious disease that can lead to diarrhea and various other intestinal diseases.
Can Adults Get Vaccinated?
Adults between the age of 27 through 45 can also get vaccinated, though the procedure is a little different and requires the overview of your healthcare provider. In cases that you are unsure whether you were vaccinated against a certain disease, you can even choose to get vaccination doses twice, as the risk of serious side effects does not increase for most of the part.
Adults over the age of 50 are also recommended to get vaccinated for diseases like Shingles and pneumococcal diseases. Some people may even vouch to get immunization against Hepatitis A and human papillomavirus – a virus that can lead to certain types of cancers.
What Happens If You Are Not Vaccinated?
Apparently, vaccination is a voluntary process, and if you choose not to get vaccinated, you are only exposing yourself and your environment to contagious diseases that are otherwise curable through the use of vaccines.
If you visit a doctor and find out that you were not vaccinated against a certain disease, you can still choose to get vaccinations for that disease – although it might not be as effective now that you are older.
Anti-vaxxers Deliberately Don’t Want to Vaccinate.
There are a pretty big fraction of people who think that vaccinations are the government’s ploy of controlling people by injecting microchips into one’s body – or something along these lines. Conspiracy theories are not very uncommon, especially on the internet, but most of these theories are written as a joke. Some people take these theories seriously, and this is what most of the anti-vaxxers faction is.
Many diseases are not almost extinct thanks to the vaccination processes that we are exposed to during childbirth. If you choose to get vaccinated, you can protect not only yourself but also your family against dangerous diseases that can prove to be fatal.
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