At Mitchell’s, we care about the health of all our children. Schedule your vaccinations today at our friendly pharmacy.
Did you know there were several outbreaks of measles and whooping cough in recent years? These diseases are extremely contagious and can be very serious, especially for babies and young children. As schools and daycares also begin to reopen, protecting children against these and other diseases makes these vaccinations particularly important.
Not sure what vaccines are needed when? Check out this easy to read schedule. Concerned about keeping your child safe? Call your doctor’s office to see what special measures they might have in place. Many offices and clinics are taking extra steps to see children safely during this time, like:
If you need help paying for vaccines, ask your child’s doctor or nurse about the Vaccines for Children program. This program provides free vaccines to children who are Medicaid-eligible, uninsured, underinsured, or American Indian/Alaska Native.
These are challenging times, but you have the power to help keep your child healthy. Making sure that your child sees their doctor for well-child visits and vaccines is one of the best things you can do to protect your child and community.
Stay safe, happy, and healthy while keeping our community safe by being proactive and staying up-to-date with your vaccines. We offer immunizations for:
It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it after it occurs.
Diseases that used to be common in this country and around the world, including polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, tetanus, rotavirus and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) can now be prevented by vaccination. Thanks to a vaccine, one of the most terrible diseases in history – smallpox – no longer exists outside the laboratory. Over the years vaccines have prevented countless cases of disease and saved millions of lives.
Immunity is the body’s way of preventing disease. Children are born with an immune system composed of cells, glands, organs, and fluids located throughout the body. The immune system recognizes germs that enter the body as “foreign invaders” (called antigens) and produces proteins called antibodies to fight them.
The first time a child is infected with a specific antigen (say measles virus), the immune system produces antibodies designed to fight it. This takes time . . . usually the immune system can’t work fast enough to prevent the antigen from causing disease, so the child still gets sick. However, the immune system “remembers” that antigen. If it ever enters the body again, even after many years, the immune system can produce antibodies fast enough to keep it from causing disease a second time. This protection is called immunity.
It would be nice if there were a way to give children immunity to a disease without their having to get sick first.
In fact there is:
Vaccines contain the same antigens (or parts of antigens) that cause diseases. For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus. But the antigens in vaccines are either killed, or weakened to the point that they don’t cause disease. However, they are strong enough to make the immune system produce antibodies that lead to immunity. In other words, a vaccine is a safer substitute for a child’s first exposure to a disease. The child gets protection without having to get sick. Through vaccination, children can develop immunity without suffering from the actual diseases that vaccines prevent.
Traveling abroad? We can help guide you on the correct vaccines and ensure you are vaccinated within the correct window of time before your travels.
It’s important to plan ahead to get the shots required for all countries you and your family plan to visit. Protect your child and family when traveling in the United States or abroad by:
Avoid getting sick or coming back home and spreading the disease to others.
See your doctor when you start to plan your trip abroad. It’s important to do this well in advance.
TIP: Save time by getting routine vaccines during the same doctor visit. Use the Vaccine Self-Assessment Tool and discuss the results with your doctor. It tells you which U.S. recommended vaccines you (19 years and older) or your child (birth – 18 years) might need.
When traveling to another country be aware your doctor may not carry a travel vaccine and you may have to visit a medical clinic.
Many travel vaccines require multiple shots or take time to become fully effective. But some multiple-dose vaccines (like hepatitis A) can still give you partial protection after just one dose. Some can also be given on an “accelerated schedule,” meaning doses are given in a shorter period of time.
At Mitchell’s Drug Stores we feel we are family and we are committed to ensuring we have a happy and healthy family.
At Mitchell’s Drug Stores we feel we are all family and we are committed to ensuring we have a happy and healthy family.
