Pediatric Center at Renaissance

07/04/2025

06/25/2025

We’ve got two of the best you’ll find. All of our providers serve with compassion and understanding while empowering family decisions with truth and science.

05/23/2025

Our office will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025. We will reopen on Tuesday, May 27 at 8 am.

05/20/2025

Our office will close at 2PM on Thursday, May 22nd for a staff event. We will reopen at 8AM on Friday, May 23rd. Our after hours triage nurse will be available by calling our office at 956-686-6100.

05/02/2025

Vaccines protect against diseases

Different vaccines work in different ways, but every vaccine helps the body’s immune system learn how to fight germs. It typically takes a few weeks for protection to develop after vaccination, but that protection can last a lifetime. A few vaccines, such as those for tetanus or seasonal flu, require occasional booster doses to maintain the body’s defenses.

Strengthening your baby's immune system

Immunity is the body’s way of preventing disease. Because a baby’s immune system is not fully developed at birth, babies face a greater risk of becoming infected and getting seriously ill. Vaccines help teach the immune system learn how to defend against germs. Vaccination protects your baby by helping build up their natural defenses.

Children are exposed to thousands of germs every day. This happens through the food they eat, the air they breathe, and the things they put in their mouth.

Babies are born with immune systems that can fight most germs, but some germs cause serious or even deadly diseases a baby can't handle. For those, babies need the help of vaccines.

Vaccines use very small amounts of antigens to help your child's immune system recognize and learn to fight serious diseases. Antigens are the parts of a germ that cause the body's immune system to go to work.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/basics/immunity-types.html

05/01/2025

Our website is full of great resources for parents. If you've never visited, take some time to explore what we have to share. The latest addition talks about playground safety and how to keep your child injury free when visiting their favorite play spots.

https://mcallenpediatrics.com/resources

05/01/2025

Mild side effects are expected

Vaccines, like medicine, can have some side effects. But most people who get vaccinated have only mild side effects or none at all. The most common side effects include fever, tiredness, body aches, and redness, swelling, and tenderness where the shot was given. Mild reactions usually go away on their own within a few days. Serious, long-lasting side effects are extremely rare. We know they are rare because CDC tracks and investigates reports of serious side effects.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/vaccines/index.html

04/30/2025

Vaccines are safe

Before a new vaccine is ever given to people, extensive lab testing is done. Once testing in people begins, it can still take years before clinical studies are complete and the vaccine is licensed.

After a vaccine is licensed, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDC, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other federal agencies continue routine monitoring and investigate any potential safety concerns.

Keep in mind‎
CDC and the FDA take great care to make sure that a vaccine is safe both before it is licensed and after the public begins using it. Making sure that all vaccines are safe is a top priority for CDC.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines-children/about/developing-safe-effective-vaccines.html

04/29/2025

Why should your child get vaccinated?

Vaccines can prevent common diseases that used to seriously harm or even kill infants, children, and adults. Without vaccines, your child is at risk of becoming seriously ill or even dying from childhood diseases such as measles and whooping cough.

It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat one after it occurs.

Vaccination is a safe, highly effective, and easy way to help keep your family healthy.

The recommended vaccination schedule balances when a child is likely to be exposed to a disease and when a vaccine will be most effective.

Vaccines are tested to ensure they can be given safely and effectively at the recommended ages.

04/29/2025

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

- Can vaccines overload my baby’s immune system?

No. Vaccines help babies fight infections by introducing a small number of antigens into their bodies. Antigens are parts of germs that cause babies’ immune systems to go to work. Vaccines contain only a tiny fraction of the antigens that babies encounter in their environment every day.

- Don’t infants have natural immunity? Isn’t natural immunity better than the kind from vaccines?

Babies may get some temporary immunity from mom during pregnancy, but these antibodies do not last long, leaving your baby vulnerable to disease if you don’t vaccinate him/her.

- Why are so many doses needed for each vaccine?

Getting every dose of each vaccine provides your child with the best protection. Depending on the vaccine, he/she may need more than one dose to build high enough immunity to prevent disease or to boost immunity that fades over time.

04/28/2025

National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is a yearly observance held in April, highlighting the importance of protecting children two years and younger from vaccine-preventable diseases. NIIW is April 21-28, 2025.

We will be highlighting important facts about infant vaccines all week. Check back daily to learn more.