Don’t you just hate it when you are getting a “shot”? The needle prick hurts a bit and it sometimes feels uncomfortable. However, these shots, called vaccinations, are very important in keeping your body healthy and safe from certain diseases.

What Are Vaccines?

Vaccines contain a weak form of a germ that usually causes a disease. When you are given a vaccine, instead of making you sick, it makes your body produce antibodies. These antibodies will attack the germ when it tries to enter your body again. You are now immune to that disease for a certain period of time.

You get different kinds of shot. Most of these are given when you are still a baby. Some vaccines need to be given only once. Others are given twice or thrice. Here are some of the important vaccines that you should have.

Must-have Shots

1. BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin). This one-shot vaccine protects you from tuberculosis (TB) and other TB-related diseases. You are given this shot immediately after birth.

2. OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine). This vaccine prevents you from contracting polio, which can cause paralysis. It is taken through the mouth. You are given this vaccine three times: first at six weeks, second at 10 weeks, and third at 14 weeks.

3. DPT (Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus). This vaccine protects you from three diseases: diptheria, a throat infection that can cause difficulty in breathing; pertussis or whooping cough, which can cause severe couging; and tetanus, a disease of the nerves which is caused by bacteria that infect wounds. It is given in three doses: when you were six, 10 and 14 weeks.

4. Hepatitis B. This vaccine prevents you from acquiring hepatitis B, a disease that affects the liver. It also protects you from liver cancer. You are given this shot thrice: at birth, at six weeks and at eight weeks.

5. Measles. This vaccine is given to you so that you will not contract measles, a contagious infection that gives you skin rash, fever and cough. You are given this shot when you were nine months old.

These five vaccines are the most important. They are also required by law. This means that doctors must give these shots to their patients.

Other Shots

There are also vaccines that are not required by law but are recommended by the Department of Health. Here are some of them:

1. Influenza. The flu vaccine is recommended to be given to all children six months to 18 years of age. You are encouraged to receive a flu shot once a year. This is because the flu virus changes regularly, so you need to be given a vaccine against new flu viruses.

2. Rotavirus. This vaccine protects you from the rotavirus which causes diarrhea in children. You are given this shot only once.

3. MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella). Aside from protecting you from measles, this vaccine also prevents you from getting mumps (inflammation of glands near the mouth) and rubella (German measles). This vaccine is given twice, first at 12-15 months, and second at 4-6 years old.

4. Varicella. This vaccine protects you from chicken pox. You are given the vaccine when you were 12-15 months old.

5. PCV (Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine). This vaccine protects you from pneumonia, a serious lung disease which is one of the leading causes of death among children in our country.

It is important that you are given the vaccines required and/or recommended by the government and your doctor. This will help make sure that you will not have serious illnesses. Even if you are not sick, you should still have your shots so you will stay healthy.