What Vaccines do Children Get?

There is no law saying children must get vaccinated although vaccines keep your child healthy by protecting them from otherwise dangerous infections. The vaccines that children sometimes get are…

• Flu vaccine also known as influenza vaccine usually available as a shot or nasal spray. the vaccine is given at the beginning of the flu season every year
• The DTaP vaccine usually 3 vaccines in 1 shot. the vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis and given in a series of five shots
• The Tdap vaccine which is a booster for the DTaP vaccine given when your child is 11 years old
• Rotavirus vaccine which protects against rotavirus, a virus which causes diarrhea in children. It is given as either as a two-dose or a three-dose series. the two-dose series is given at 2 and 4 months of age while the three-dose series at 2, 4 and 6 months
• IPV vaccine (inactivated poliovirus) which protects against polio, a disease that causes muscle pain and paralysis. it is given as a shot four times as a shot
• MMR vaccine which protects against measles, mumps and rubella and is given as 2 shots
• Hib virus which protects against Haemophilus influenza type b that can cause meningitis, pneumonia and severe throat infection in children
• Varicella vaccine which helps to prevent chickenpox
• HBV vaccine which prevents hepatitis B infection of the liver
• Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine which protects against a type of bacteria that causes ear infections
• Meningococcal conjugate vaccine which protects against four strains of bacterial meningitis
• HPV vaccine protects against HPV that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts

These are the vaccines that your children may need at some point.

Healthy kids are happy kids. All parents start thinking about the cold weather and the many types of illnesses it brings with it. Hand washing is not a great solution alone, especially after school starts.