It's never too late to get vaccinated

The importance of vaccines in health protection

MSc. Dr. Nguyen Hien Minh - Deputy Head of the Vaccination Unit, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City said that vaccines are an important tool in protecting human health from birth to adulthood and old age.

Vaccines are considered a great invention of medicine, equivalent to the discovery of antibiotics. If antibiotics are associated with the treatment stage of disease, vaccines help us prevent disease early.

Since Dr. Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine in 1796, medicine has continued to advance and has produced many vaccines to prevent different diseases.

There are two types of immunity in the human body: innate immunity and adaptive immunity.

Innate immunity exists from the moment we are born, has the ability to block harmful agents but does not have specific memory for each virus or bacteria.

Adaptive immunity, on the other hand, is the type of immunity that is “trained” each time the body encounters a pathogen, helping the body produce antibodies and specialized immune cells to fight the harmful agent the next time it encounters it. Vaccination is the way we actively create adaptive immunity for the body.

It's never too late to get vaccinated

According to Dr. Nguyen Hien Minh, vaccination is necessary at all ages. When still a fetus, the child receives passive antibodies from the mother through the placenta and breast milk. However, to strengthen immune memory, the child needs to be vaccinated so that the immune system can "learn" how to actively fight viruses and bacteria in the environment.

As adults, the need to communicate and move a lot increases the risk of disease. Therefore, the immune system needs additional vaccines suitable for each age to enhance the ability to prevent disease. Especially in the elderly and people with chronic diseases, the immune system is weakened, so it is necessary to get vaccinated again.

Thus, vaccination is lifelong to protect our health at any age.

A vaccine is like an antigen component introduced into the body for the immune system to recognize and activate immune cells.

In the human body, there are two important cells in recognizing antigens to produce antibodies: T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. Although these two types of cells have the ability to remember, it will depend on each type of antigen and the time of exposure to the antigen. Over time, the immune system needs to be "reminded" through vaccines to enhance its ability to remember. Therefore, booster vaccination is extremely necessary and important for us to be fully protected.

With the desire to help people better understand the importance of vaccines and vaccination for their own health and social health, the Communication Center cooperates with the Vaccination Unit of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and accompanying units: GSK, Pfizer to implement the Healthy Living - Sharing consulting program with the theme "Vaccines for life - Vaccination is never too late". Follow at: https://bit.ly/vacxintrondoi

Source: https://giadinhonline.vn/vac-xin-tron-doi-tiem-chung-khong-bao-gio-la-muon-d201419.html