Routine immunizations can protect you from potential diseases like measles, chickenpox, and the seasonal flu. At Serenity Healthcare, PLLC, family care provider Shanekwah Melville, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, provides immunizations to people of all ages so you can live a long and healthy life. To make an appointment for yourself or your child, call the office in Houston, Texas, or book online today.

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What are immunizations?

Immunizations are an important part of preventive health care. They can protect you from contagious and potentially life-threatening diseases.

Children and adults should receive routine immunizations to ensure their long-term health and well-being. At Serenity Healthcare, PLLC, Shanekwah provides a variety of immunizations on a routine schedule.

How do immunizations work?

Immunizations, or vaccines, contain weakened or dead versions of a virus, which your provider injects into your body to trigger an immune response.

When the vaccine enters the body, your immune system creates antibodies to fight off disease. Because the vaccine contains weak germs, your body can eliminate the virus without getting too ill.

The immune system remembers the virus in the vaccine so that, should you encounter that disease in the future, your body can produce the same antibodies to fight off the illness.

What are the types of immunizations?

There is a broad range of immunizations that you or your child may need depending on your immunization schedule and medical history, including:

  • Varicella (chickenpox)
  • Diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (DTaP)
  • Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
  • Hepatitis A
  • Hepatitis B
  • Influenza (flu)
  • Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)
  • Meningococcal conjugate
  • Polio
  • Pneumococcal conjugate
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV)
  • COVID-19

Some children and adults may need to catch up on immunizations during their later childhood or adulthood. At Serenity Healthcare, PLLC, Shanekwah maintains a record of your immunizations and can schedule them as needed.

What immunizations do children need?

Immunizations start at birth and continue at several points in early childhood. Most kids have their basic immunizations by age six.

After that, children need Tdap (DTaP booster), HPV, and meningococcal conjugate vaccines at age 11-12, along with their yearly flu shots. 16-year-olds need a meningococcal conjugate booster.

What immunizations do adults need?

Adults need flu shots every year. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends COVID-19 shots for nearly all adults. Adults also need a Tdap booster shot every 10 years.

If you didn’t have the HPV vaccine when you were younger, the CDC recommends getting it before age 26. After that age, you may still opt for the HPV immunization up to age 45 based on your risk factors and health history.

Adults over 50 need a shingles vaccine to prevent a recurrence of the chickenpox virus in adulthood. You may also need a pneumococcal conjugate immunization based on your health risks and history. Starting at age 65, you need a pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine as well.

Are immunizations safe?

Immunizations are proven safe and only made available to the public after extensive safety and tolerance testing. However, immunizations can have side effects in some people, like a low-grade fever. You may also experience soreness at the injection site.

However, the brief discomfort you feel after receiving a vaccine is far more bearable than the disease you could get without the vaccine.

To help protect you from serious illnesses, it’s vital that you keep up with your scheduled immunizations.

To learn more about immunizations and explore available options, make an appointment at Serenity Healthcare, PLLC by calling the office or booking online today.