More on vaccinations
Vaccines are protecting your child against these diseases:
• Chicken pox, a viral disease, causes an itchy rash and fever.
• Diphtheria is an infection that is highly contagious, makes it hard to breathe and can lead to pneumonia and death.
• Hepatitis can cause jaundice and lead to liver failure.
• The Hib vaccine protects against a bacteria that can cause pneumonia and meningitis, an inflammation of the material that surrounds the brain.
• HPV, or human papillomavirus vaccine, protects females against genital warts and cervical cancer.
• Measles is highly contagious and causes a rash all over the body, a cough and a high fever and can lead to ear infections and pneumonia.
• Mumps causes painfully swollen glands under the jaw and can lead to hearing loss or meningitis.
• Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, causes a severe cough that can last for as long as two months and can lead to pneumonia.
• The pneumonococcal vaccine protects against bacterial meningitis, pneumonia and ear infections caused by strep pneumonia.
• Polio can cause paralysis.
• Rotavirus can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea and lead to dehydration.
• Rubella, also known as the German measles, is a mild disease in children, but can lead to miscarriage and birth defects if contracted by a pregnant woman.
• Tetanus, an infection that usually enters the body through a cut, can cause muscle spasms.
Questions? Contact your doctor or The Children's Clinic, 731-423-1230.
Follow this chart of suggested vaccinations
• Birth: Hepatitis B vaccine.• Two months: First doses of Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b); Polio vaccine; DTP or diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis combined vaccine; pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar); rotavirus vaccine; and second hepatitis B vaccine.
• Four months: Second dose of Hib, DTP, polio, pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines.
• Six months: Third dose of Hib, DTP, rotavirus, hepatitis B, and pneumonococcal vaccines.
• 12 to 18 months: Fourth dose of Hib, DTP, and pneumonococcal vaccine; first dose of MMR (the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine), Varicella vaccine to protect against chickenpox, and hepatitis A vaccine.
• 18 to 24 months: Second hepatitis A vaccine.
• Four to six years: Second dose of MMR vaccine, fourth dose of polio vaccine, fifth dose of DTP vaccine, second dose of chicken pox vaccine, and hepatitis A, if not given previously.
• 11-12 years: Meningitis vaccine; and a booster of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine Also a second chickenpox vaccine and hepatitis A series, if not given previously.
• 9 years to mid-teens females: HPV or human papillomavirus vaccine – a series of three shots.
• Late teens: Meningitis vaccine, particularly for students who are headed to college and dormitory life if not given previously.
• A yearly flu shot for all children six months to 59 months is recommended. However, most pediatricians would recommend flu vaccine for all children, especially those at risk, because of other chronic health conditions.