Childhood Immunizations

Mercury-Based Vaccine Is Not Linked To Autism
by eNotAlone.com
A new study from Italy adds to a mountain of evidence that a mercury-based preservative thimerosal, once used in many vaccines does not hurt children, offering more reassurance to parents. In the early 90s, thousands of healthy Italian children

Flu Vaccine Doesn't Work For All Children
by eNotAlone.com
Flu vaccine can triple the risk of hospitalization for children, and especially the ones with asthma, when compared with kids who have not received the shot, according to a new study by the U.S. scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Change In Vaccine Order Affects Infants' Response To Pain
by eNotAlone.com
Canadian doctors say that the certain order in which vaccine injections are being administered to infants, affects their response to pain. According to scientists, infants who receive the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) following the combination

Unvaccinated Children At Higher Risk Of Illnesses
by eNotAlone.com
Children whose parents do not want to immunize them are 23 times more likely to develop the whooping cough, or pertussis, compared to those kids who have all their vaccinations done on time, U.S. researchers reported last week.

Do I Have To Vaccinate My Child?
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations
by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F. A.A.F.P., Deborah Mitchell
This question is being asked more and more often by parents as they hear and read about the association between vaccines and various serious health conditions. Although there are no federal mandates that force parents to have their children vaccinated

An Infant's Immune System
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations
by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F. A.A.F.P., Deborah Mitchell
Infants come into the world with antibodies they have gotten from their mother through the placenta. Infants who are breastfed continue to receive many important antibodies in the colostrum; the thick, yellowish premilk that is secreted during the first

Childhood Immunization Benefits and Risks
by Health Canada
Vaccines are a safe and effective way to give children immunity against a number of potentially serious diseases. Babies are born with a certain amount of natural protection against disease, which comes in the form of antibodies they get from their mother

Thimerosal-free Vaccines
by CDC
Today, with the exception of some influenza vaccine, none of the vaccines used to protect preschool children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative.

Kids' Vaccinations : MMR, Chickenpox
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The MMR vaccine protects against measles, mumps and rubella (German measles). Measles is a highly contagious disease that causes high fever, cough, and a spotty rash. Possible complications include ear infections and pneumonia as well.

Kids' Vaccinations : DTP, Hepatitis B, Polio
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The DTP shot is a combination inoculation against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. It is given at 2, 4, 6, and 15 to 18 months of age, with a booster between 4 and 6 years. Diphtheria is an infection of the throat, mouth and nose.

Multiple Vaccines and the Immune System
by CDC
Currently, CDC recommends vaccination against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases. Because some of these vaccines have to be administered more than once, a child may receive up to 23 shots by the time he or she is 2 years of age.

MMR Vaccine and Autism
by CDC
At a glance: The weight of currently available scientific evidence does not support the hypothesis that vaccines cause autism. We recognize there is considerable public interest in this issue, and therefore support additional research regarding

Vaccine Safety: Six Common Misconceptions
by CDC
Most parents today have never seen a case of diphtheria, measles, or other once-common diseases now preventable by vaccines. As a result, some parents wonder why their children must receive shots for diseases that don't seem to exist.

Vaccines and Autism Link?
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
There is no link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or the vaccine preservative thimerosal, according to a report released by the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Immunization Safety Review Committee.

Kids' Vaccinations : Vaccines and the Law
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
For children, the vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective and can be administered at the same time as the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. (The MMR vaccine is given at 12 to 15 months and again between 4 and 6 years or before junior high

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccination
by CDC
The age at which infants begin their primary course of vaccinations (2 to 4 months old) is also the peak age for the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The similar timing of these two events has led some people to believe that the events

Is there a connection between vaccines and ASD?
by CDC
At a glance: The weight of currently available scientific evidence does not support the hypothesis that vaccines cause autism. We recognize there is considerable public interest in this issue, and therefore support additional research regarding

Vaccine Safety : Process, Concerns
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
There have been other recent policy changes to improve vaccine safety, including ACIP's 1999 recommendation to change from the use of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the inactivated polio virus (IPV).

Pneumococcal Vaccine
by Health Canada
A new pneumococcal vaccine has been licensed for use in Canada for children. Pneumococcal disease is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus pneumoniae. There are more than 90 different types of pneumococcal bacteria; however, only a few types account

Vaccine Safety : Reactions
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Before a vaccine is put into standard medical practice, it must be studied in clinical trials of thousands of people, which allows for evaluation of relatively common side effects. For example, a common side effect might occur in one or more of several