Yoakum Community Hospital is proud to help raise awareness of health and the importance of immunizations during August, National Immunization Awareness Month. While we mostly think of trips to our child’s primary care physician for shots, everyone needs shots (vaccines) for protection from serious diseases. Shots can prevent serious diseases like the flu, measles, and pneumonia, and it is important to know which shots you need and when to get them.

A vaccine works with the body’s natural defenses to fight off certain diseases. Even if you do not have an increased risk factor for a certain disease, you are not only protecting yourself through vaccinations, you are protecting the people with whom you come in contact.

“We all have immunities to certain viruses but we can still carry them and infect others,” said Karen Barber, CEO, YCH.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers online resources and tools to help you make sure your kids are up to date on recommended vaccines and protected from serious diseases.

Concerning adults, the CDC estimates that about one out of every three people in the United States will develop shingles in their lifetime. With age, the severity of shingles can be debilitating and cause issues that last for years.

Talk to your doctor or nurse to make sure that everyone in your family gets the shots they need. For help in finding a physician for your family’s health care needs, please call (361) 293-2321 or go to www.yoakumhospital.org/physicians/