Forgot Whether You've Had an Immunization? You Can Get Tested

It’s easy to lose track when it comes to immunizations. But staying current can help protect you and your kids from a variety of life-threatening diseases. At Medinet Family Care Clinic in Houston, Dr. Bharat Gandhi and our team provide comprehensive immunization services for both children and adults. Even if you don’t have your immunization history, we can help.

The importance of immunizations

Immunizations, also known as vaccinations, protect you from serious illness by introducing you to tiny amounts of specific infections in a vaccine. When you get a vaccination, we inject small and diluted amounts of a disease into your body. This approach triggers your immune system to create antibodies to fight off the infection.

We use immunizations to protect you from a wide range of illnesses, including:

• Hepatitis A and B
• Rotavirus
• Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis
• Polio
• Measles, mumps, and rubella
• Chickenpox and shingles
• Typhoid
• Varicella
• Meningococcal meningitis
• Pneumococcal pneumonia
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)

The flu shot is also an important type of immunization. This annual vaccine can help protect you from the most common strains of flu researchers anticipate each year.

Vaccinations not only protect your health and the health of your child, but they also protect communities by eliminating the spread of serious diseases.

Immunity testing to the rescue

As important as immunizations are, it can be hard to know what you’ve had and what you still need. Plus, who has the time to track down their immunization records from childhood, high school, and adulthood? Fortunately, we can help eliminate the mystery with immunity testing.

Immunity testing allows us to look for signs of specific immunities in your body. For example, we can check to see if you’re immune to chickenpox by drawing your blood and inspecting the sample underneath a microscope for signs of the virus is in your system.

This approach can help us identify a wide range of immunities so we can recommend the right vaccinations to help protect you from illness. By undergoing immunity testing, you can also avoid getting unnecessary immunizations when you don’t need them.

Some illnesses that we vaccinate against, like hepatitis B, don’t have any symptoms. So we can also perform lab testing to look for signs of infection given your individual concerns and risks.

What to expect from immunizations

Being immunized or going through immunity testing is a simple process that usually has minimal discomfort. Both procedures involve a needle, so you might feel a quick pinch while getting your injection or blood drawn.

In most cases, you can continue regular activities immediately after having immunizations or blood drawn. Sometimes when you have a vaccination, however, you can develop mild symptoms that include:

• Low-grade fever and chills
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Muscle and joint aches

You might also experience pain, redness, or swelling at the injection or blood draw site. All of these feelings usually pass quickly.

To learn more about immunizations and immunity testing, call us at Medinet Family Care Clinic or schedule an appointment online today.