Vaccination prevents certain diseases from affecting you. We often relate vaccination to children. But Tdap is not only for children. Infectious Disease Center, Hyderabad, provides Tdap vaccination for all children, preteen, teens, and adults.
Why Is Tdap Vaccine Given?
Tdap provides protection against 3 extremely dangerous infections – diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus.
Diphtheria and pertussis, also known as, whooping cough, are both highly contagious bacterial diseases which infect the respiratory system. They cause a breathing problem and severe cough. Once a person is infected, treatment is lengthy and difficult; recovery is painful.
Tetanus is also a bacterial disease. An infected person suffers from uncontrollable muscle spasms, including convulsions.
Infants are at the highest risk of getting infected. The risk of infection becomes lower as the person grows in age.
What Are The Doses?
Tdap vaccines are now a routine to any child’s vaccination schedule. However, at this stage, the vaccination is termed as DTap. These vaccines are cumulative of five injections administered at 2months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and 4-6 years.
The booster dose of this course, given at 10-11 years, is the same medicine with a lighter dose. From this dose onwards, the vaccination is called Tdap. Pregnant women can also take Tdap to protect the newborn from the diseases before their own vaccination course starts. Regardless, Tdap is recommended to be taken by everyone once in every 10 years.
At Infectious Disease Center, we strongly recommend that you do not skip or delay any of the doses. But if you already have, you must consult a doctor immediately. We provide Tdap vaccination for older children and adults who have missed their doses before. This is especially important for those who intend to stay in close association with a newborn child.