5 Essential Vaccines for Women’s Health

2023-07-03T00:25:34+00:00

By Rody

As a woman, the use of the vaccine is sacrosanct due to the many risks being a woman exposes you to. From having to start menstruating, and ovulating, to pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. Though the aforementioned are troubles in themselves, they come with various forms of conditions that affect your overall well-being.Taking care of yourself as a woman is sacrosanct to avoid some kinds of conditions that will affect you. Doing this involves eating right, doing routine check-ups at the hospital, exercising, taking care of your mental health, and getting the right vaccinations.Vaccines will be the focus here as one of the ways for women to protect their health.

What are vaccines, and why do you need them?

Vaccines are created to protect us from different infectious diseases that can harm the immune system. Vaccines also block access to future ailments.There are two major forms of vaccines:

1. Prophylactic vaccines

These vaccines are used to prevent future diseases. Vaccines that fall in these categories include HPV vaccines (this is used to prevent cervical cancer, throat cancer, among many others), Hepatitis B, Influenza, measles, amongst many others.

2. Therapeutic vaccines

These vaccines are used after the ailment has occurred in a bid to manage the situation and prevent further damage. For example, some vaccines are used for cancer patients to strengthen their bodies and prevent further proliferation of the cancerous cells. Also, they come in the form of antigens. These are not curative.

The type of vaccine we will be focusing on is the prophylactic type that has to be administered before an ailment is diagnosed/discovered.These are the common types of vaccines needed for women to maintain overall wellbeing:

1. HPV

Human Papilloma virus also known as HPV is a virus that commonly affects women, and leads to various ailments such as cervical cancer, genital warts, mouth cancer, throat cancer, and neck cancer. This virus is spread through sexual contact.Sexual contacts activate the strains and lead to HPV. The vaccine to combat this as used by the U.S.A. is known as Gardasil 9. The vaccine is administered to girls and boys from age 9 to age 26, and those above 26 are given an alternative dose. The HPV vaccine is also recommended for boys at a young age. Seeing the array of benefits makes it a very important vaccine to consider.

2. HEPATITIS B vaccine

The Hepatitis B vaccine protects both males and females from diseases that affect the liver. It can be used by people across all age groups and is mostly recommended for people above the age of 60 who may be at high risk.It can be contracted when there is contact with the bodily fluid of an infected person. It is also sexually transmitted.Hepatitis B causes the liver to fail, cancer of the liver, and may cause death. Getting the vaccine protects the recipient for a lifetime.

3. TDAP

This vaccine is used to prevent Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. It is recommended for pregnant women to protect their newborns from Pertussis.

4. MMR Vaccine

The vaccine protects people against mumps, measles, and rubella. It is one of the commonest vaccines and is used to also prevent Varicella, known as chickenpox. Women of childbearing age are advised to get vaccinated before pregnancy. It is also recommended for everyone, children and adults alike.

5. Influenza

This is a common infection that affects the respiratory system. It can lead to different types of illness. Pregnant women are at risk of contracting influenza due to their condition. The vaccination is used to protect them from these illnesses that could affect the child or them during pregnancy. NB: While all of these are important, this is purely for awareness purposes, and not medical advice. So, it is of utmost importance that you reach out to your doctor as there may be adverse reactions connected to them based on your medical history. Get the necessary information before going ahead.

Conclusion

Taking care of yourself is an investment you would never regret, and as the saying goes “prevention is better than cure”.Taking vaccines is important to protect yourself from certain conditions that you are bound to go through. Vaccines that women include HPV, Hepatitis vaccines, Varicella, and many others. It is also crucial to get medical advice to proceed.

Rodiat Ajuwon