Getting Immunizations For Your Baby
To help keep your baby healthy, your health-care provider will recommend that your baby receive a series of vaccinations against certain vaccine-preventable diseases. In the United States,
children routinely get vaccinated against 15 serious diseases. Below you will find information about these diseases, as well as a chart with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)
recommended immunization schedule for 2010.1,2
a If Rotatrix® is administered at ages 2 and 4 months, a dose at 6 months is not indicated.2
b If PRP-OMP (PedvaxHIB® or Comvax® [HepB-Hib]) is administered at ages 2 and 4 months, a dose at 6 months is not indicated.2
c May be administered in 2 doses (separated by at least 4 weeks) to children younger than 9 years of age who are receiving influenza vaccine for the first time or were vaccinated
with 1 dose for the first time last season.2
Diphtheria:1-3
- A disease caused by a bacterium called Corynebacterium diphtheriae
- Found in the mouth, throat, and nose
- Can be spread by coughing or sneezing
- Symptoms include sore throat, fever, and chills
- Can lead to heart failure and paralysis
- Vaccines available:
- - Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine for infants and children through 6 years of age
- - Tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine for adolescents and adults
Hepatitis A:1
- A liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus
- Found mainly in bowel movements
- Can be spread through personal contact, eating contaminated food, or drinking contaminated water
- Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, tiredness, stomach pain, vomiting, dark urine, and yellow skin or eyes
- Children under 6 years of age often do not show any signs of illness
- Vaccine available: Hepatitis A vaccine
Hepatitis B:1
- A liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus
- Can be spread through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person
- Pregnant women who have chronic Hepatitis B can infect their newborn babies
- Symptoms include loss of appetite, tiredness, muscle or stomach pains, diarrhea, vomiting, and yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
- Some people don't get any symptoms at all
- Some people develop chronic infection that may lead to scarring of the liver or liver cancer
- Vaccine available: Hepatitis B vaccine
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease:1
- A disease caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria
- Can be spread through the air by coughing, sneezing, and even breathing
- The bacteria can spread to the lungs or bloodstream, causing meningitis (infection of the covering of the brain), pneumonia, epiglottitis (inflammation in the throat), arthritis, or other
problems
- Vaccine available: Hib vaccine
Human papillomavirus (HPV):1,4
- A sexually transmitted disease caused by the human papillomavirus
- Spreads through sexual contact
- Most HPV infections go away on their own without symptoms
- May cause cervical cancer in women
- Associated with several less common types of cancer in men and women
- May cause genital warts and warts in the upper respiratory tract
- Vaccine available: HPV vaccine
Influenza (flu):1
- A seasonal illness caused by the influenza virus
- Spread from person to person through sneezing, coughing, or breathing
- Symptoms include fever, sore throat, cough, headache, chills, and muscle aches
- Young children may also have vomiting and diarrhea
- May cause ear and sinus infections, pneumonia, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), and death
- The virus is always changing, so the immunity you had one year may not protect you in the future
- Vaccine available: Influenza vaccine
Measles:1
- A viral illness that causes a rash all over the body
- Can be spread by breathing, coughing, or sneezing
- Other symptoms include fever, runny nose, and cough
- May cause ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), or death
- May cause miscarriages or premature birth in pregnant women
- Very contagious - any child who is exposed to it and has not been vaccinated will probably get the disease
- Vaccine available: Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine
Meningococcal disease:1,5
- A leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children 2 to 18 years of age
- Meningitis is an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord
- May also cause blood infections
- Most common in infants and people with certain medical conditions
- College freshmen who live in dormitories and teenagers 15 to 19 years of age are also at increased risk
- Vaccines available:
- - Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV)
- - Meningococcal vaccine (MV)
Mumps:1
- A disease that is best known for the swelling of the cheeks and jaw that results from inflammation of the salivary glands
- Causes a fever and headache
- Often a mild disease
- Severe cases may lead to meningitis, encephalitis, deafness, or death
- Vaccine available: MMR vaccine
Pertussis (whooping cough):1
- Caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis
- Commonly called whooping cough because the cough is violent and rapid, forcing the air to leave the person's lungs. Inhalation sounds like a loud "whoop."
- Very contagious, it is one of the most common vaccine-preventable childhood diseases in the United States
- Can be spread from person to person through personal contact, coughing, and sneezing
- Resembles a common cold at first, with sneezing, runny nose, fever, and a mild cough
- After 1 or 2 weeks, severe coughing spells begin
- May lead to pneumonia, convulsions, brain damage, and death
- Vaccines available:
- - DTaP vaccine
- - Tdap vaccine
Pneumococcal disease:1
- Caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria
- Children can develop a severe disease that can lead to meningitis and blood infections
- Can be spread through the air by anyone who is infected, even if they don't have symptoms
- Most common during the winter and early spring
- Vaccines available:
- - Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
- - Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV)
Polio:1
- Thousands died and were paralyzed during a major epidemic in 1916
- A vaccine was introduced in the 1950s and the disease began to disappear in the United States
- Caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract
- Spread mainly through contact with the feces of an infected person
- Some children do not feel ill at all, and others have common cold-like symptoms, sometimes accompanied by pain and stiffness
- Serious forms of the disease cause severe muscle pain and paralysis within a week (loss of muscle use)
- There is no treatment for polio
- Vaccine available: Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) vaccine
Rotavirus:1
- Most common cause of severe gastroenteritis (diarrhea and vomiting) among young children
- May cause a fever of 102 degrees F or higher, severe dehydration, or death
- The virus is shed in the stool
- Can be spread by direct contact with an infected person, or by contact with contaminated objects such as toys or food
- Often spread within families, hospitals, and child-care facilities
- Vaccine available: Rotavirus vaccine (oral)
Rubella:1
- Sometimes called "German measles" or "3-day measles"
- Generally a mild disease caused by the rubella virus
- Usually occurs in the winter and spring
- Causes a slight fever, along with a rash on the face and neck, swollen glands in the back of the neck, and arthritis-like symptoms in the joints in teens and adults
- Spread from person to person through the air by coughing, sneezing, or breathing
- If a pregnant woman is infected during the early months of pregnancy, the disease can cause deafness, blindness, damage to the heart or brain, or mental retardation in her baby
- Miscarriages are common among pregnant women who get rubella
- Vaccine available: MMR vaccine
Tetanus (lockjaw):1
- Caused by Clostridium tetani bacteria usually found in soil, dust, and manure
- Enters the body through breaks in the skin
- Children usually become infected through deep cuts, severe burns, ear infections, tooth infections, or animal bites
- Can take up to 3 weeks for the first symptoms to appear
- Symptoms include headache, crankiness, and spasms of the jaw muscles
- May cause painful muscle spasms in the neck, arms, legs, and stomach
- The spasms may be strong enough to break a child's bones
- Vaccine available:
- - DTaP vaccine
- - Tdap vaccine
- - Td vaccine
Varicella (chickenpox):1
- Until recently, one of the most common childhood diseases
- Causes an itchy rash, fever, and drowsiness
- Can cause encephalitis if blisters become infected
- Can be spread by coughing, sneezing, breathing, or contact with fluid from the blisters
- Symptoms usually occur 2 to 3 weeks after exposure
- The infected child is contagious for 1 to 2 days before the rash appears and 4 to 5 days after blisters disappear
- Is usually mild, but can become serious in infants and adults
- The virus that causes the disease stays in the body and may cause shingles later in life
- Vaccine available: Varicella vaccine
References 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Parent's Guide to Childhood Immunizations. Atlanta, GA: CDC; 2007:1-68. 2. CDC. Recommended
immunization schedules for persons aged 0 through 18 years - United States, 2010. MMWR. 2010;58(51&52):1-4. 3. CDC. Recommended adult immunization schedule - United States, 2010. MMWR. 2010;59(1):1-4.
4. CDC. HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine: what you need to know. Vaccine information statement, 3/30/2010. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-hpv-gardasil.pdf. Accessed May 12,
2010. 5. CDC. Meningococcal vaccines: what you need to know. Vaccine information statement, 1/28/2008. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-mening.pdf. Accessed May 12, 2010.
Brought to you as a public service by Sanofi Pasteur Inc.
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