Vaccines Specialist
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Fauquier Family Practice PLC
Board Certified Family Medicine located in Warrenton, VA
What if there was a safeguard that you and your family could use to protect your future health? This idea is a reality in the form of vaccines, which can offer you protection from pathogens and even cancer. To learn more about the various vaccines available today and which are right for your family, visit Michael T. Lin, MD, and the team at Fauquier Family Practice, PLC. You can call their Warrenton, Virginia, office, or make an appointment online to get started with this vital preventive medicine.
Vaccines Q & A
How do vaccines work?
Your body’s immune system is a powerful tool that it uses to keep you healthy. But, like all tools, strengthening and honing it makes it more effective. Vaccines are a safe, extremely effective way to bolster your immune system, equipping it to defend you against specific health conditions.
Vaccines work by introducing a very small amount of a disease — like measles or specific strains of influenza, for example — to your body. This isn’t enough to make your sick but it still jumpstarts your immune system. Your immune response learns to combat this condition, developing the specific type of defensive white blood cells it needs to protect your body against it.
The next time your body is exposed to the disease, it’s able to respond immediately, preventing you from getting sick.
Who should get vaccinated?
Talk to your Fauquier Family Practice provider about the right vaccinations for every member of your family. You might think vaccines are only important when you’re young, but there are a number of vaccines you should get throughout your adult life. Additional doses of the tetanus vaccine, for example, are recommended every 10 years for adults.
The Fauquier Family Practice team is available to develop a vaccination schedule for your family. Following this personalized calendar ensures that every member of your family is getting the immune system support they need to defend against a wide range of health conditions — from measles and the mumps to human papillomavirus (HPV) to chickenpox and the flu.
How often should my family get vaccinated?
Some vaccinations are effective after only one dose, but others require ongoing treatment. The flu shot, for example, is specifically formulated each year to protect you against the strains of influenza experts anticipate will be most common throughout the coming flu season. Because the influenza virus changes from year to year, a yearly flu shot is the only way to keep your body protected against the latest strains of the flu.
The flu shot is especially important for kids and seniors. For these groups, influenza can take such a major toll on the body that it can become life-threatening. Start vaccinating your kids against the flu once they’re 6 months old.
Keep your family healthy by scheduling vaccinations. Call Fauquier Family Practice or book your appointment online today.
