Preventive Care for Kids
By Annie Mack, MD
Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Primary Care
Portland South Office
PART 3 IN OUR SERIES ON GUIDELINES FOR GOOD HEALTH
Besides feeding, clothing, sheltering and loving your children, the most important thing you can do for their health is to protect them from serious childhood diseases. Providing this protection can be as simple as keeping up with your children's regularly scheduled well-child checkups.
At these checkups, your pediatrician can administer vaccines that immunize your children against measles, mumps, tetanus and other diseases that can cause serious harm. While you may be familiar with the basic vaccination lineup, some changes have taken place that may be new to you. Following is an update on the newer vaccines and boosters.
Rotavirus
This new oral vaccine protects against a common form of gastroenteritis that can cause dehydration severe enough to require hospitalization or even to cause death.
Recommendation: 3 doses at 2, 4 and 6 months old.
Hepatitis A
Children now can be immunized against viral hepatitis A, which can cause jaundice, nausea, vomiting and liver inflammation.
Recommendation: 2 doses, 6 months apart, starting at 12 months old.
Varicella
The recommendation for this vaccine, which protects against chicken pox, now includes a booster dose.
New recommendation: First dose given at 12 to 15 months old, followed by a new booster at 4 to 6 years old.
TDaP (Tetanus, Diphtheria, acellular Pertussis)
This replaces the former Td booster, given at age 10 to 11, adding a pertussis booster to protect against whooping cough and a form of bacterial bronchitis.
Recommendation: 1 dose of TDaP at 10 to 11 years old; Td booster to follow once every 10 years. (Note: adults - especially parents of infants - should get the TDaP booster instead of the Td booster once in their adult life.)
Gardasil
This newer vaccine protects girls through their adulthood against several strains of HPV (human papillomavirus) that can cause cervical cancer, vaginal cancer and genital warts.
Recommendation: A 3-dose series beginning with the initial injection, then a booster 2 months later, then the third dose 4 months after the second dose. The series usually begins at age 11, but ranges from age 9 to 26. (Note: Gardasil does not protect against every strain of HPV, so routine Pap smears are still important.)
Menactra
This vaccine protects against some forms of bacterial (Neisseria) meningitis, and is now advised for all children.
Recommendation: 1 dose at age 11, or earlier for children with certain high-risk medical conditions.
TO VIEW THE COMPLETE VACCINATION GUIDELINES, VISIT:
WWW.CISPIMMUNIZE.ORG (SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS), OR
WWW.CDC.GOV/VACCINES (SPONSORED BY THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)
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