The Latest Scoop on Immunizations

Courtesy of Sherman J. Alter, MD, medical director of infectious disease, The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton

From the second you have your baby, worries and stress surrounding her well-being and safety begin to set in. Fortunately, one way to start your child on the track for a healthy future is making sure she stays up to date on her immunizations.

While at first the vaccination process may seem daunting, developing a plan with your physician will make it much more manageable. To best protect infants and toddlers from a number of infectious diseases, parents and families should talk to their child’s doctor about the recommended vaccines.

To ensure your child receives the most effective and current vaccinations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually update their immunization schedule. There were several important changes and recommendations made in 2011 for infants and young children. All of the recommended immunizations should be administered, but the schedule released Feb. 1, 2011, places emphasis on the following six guidelines for your child:

1) Starting at 6 months old, every person should receive the influenza vaccine annually, and those in contact with children under 5 years old (such as parents, grandparents, or caregivers) should make sure to stay up to date with their vaccinations.

2) Children between 12–23 months should be vaccinated with the hepatitis A virus vaccine.

3) All infants should receive the rotavirus vaccine to protect against diarrhea caused by this virus.

4) Children should receive two doses of the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine: once between 12 to 15 months and again between 4 to 6 years to protect from this contagious disease.

5) Adults who have or expect to have close contact with an infant less than 12 months old (parents, grandparents) should receive a single dose of the DTaP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis).

6) Infants and young children receiving the pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar®, PCV7) should complete the vaccine series with a new pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13) that affords additional protection against serious infections, such as pneumonia and meningitis. Infants just starting the vaccine series should be vaccinated with PCV13.

In addition to talking with your doctor, you can stay updated on the most recent immunization guidelines through the American Academy of Pediatrics immunization site at www.aap.org/immunization.