The varicella vaccine is given to prevent chickenpox and the severe, and occasionally fatal, consequences of chickenpox. These can include severe infection of the skin, swelling of the brain, and pneumonia (usually more severe in children 13 or older and adults).

Chickenpox vaccine should be given to children who have not had chickenpox disease. One dose of the vaccine is given to children between 12 months and 12 years of age. Two doses, separated by four to eight weeks, are needed by children 13 to 18 years of age.

For the most up to date information about chickenpox (Varicella) and the Varicella vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information
FAQ's about Chickenpox

Diphtheria
Diphtheria is a respiratory disease caused by bacteria. It is spread by coughing and sneezing. The toxin released by the bacterium causes difficulty breathing and swallowing. It also attacks the heart, kidneys, and nervous system. It can lead to airway obstruction, coma, and death if not treated. In the 1920s, diphtheria was a common cause of death in children and adolescents. At its peak, about 150,000 cases of diphtheria occurred in the United States every year! The diphtheria vaccine, first used in the United States in the early 1940s, has virtually eliminated the disease. Now we see less than 2 cases a year in the U.S. Diphtheria toxoid (contained in DTP, DTaP, DT or Td vaccines) can prevent this disease.

There are nations still having outbreaks of diphtheria. It is important to check the "Travelers Health" website of the National Center for Infectious Diseases for up-to-date information on your destinations before you travel.

For the most up to date information about diphtheria and the DTP/DTaP/DT/Td vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
The bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type b (or Hib) is a severe bacterial infection, occurring primarily in infants. It can cause meningitis, bloodstream infections, arthritis, bone infections, skin and throat infections, pneumonia and other diseases.

Children with meningitis often have fever, stiff neck, and drowsiness. Symptoms can progress to include coma and death. Some children recover from the disease but are left permanently paralyzed, deaf, or mentally retarded. This disease can be serious in children under age 1, but there is little risk of getting the disease after age 5. Hib meningitis causes death in one out of 20 children. It is spread by coughing and sneezing. Although the Hib vaccine prevents what was once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis, it does not prevent all causes of meningitis. Other causes of meningitis include pneumococcus and meningococcus. To date, there is no routinely recommended vaccine to fight meningococcus. However, there is now a pneumococcal vaccine.

For the most up to date information about Hib and the Hib vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a virus that causes disease of the liver. Symptoms include tiredness, fever, jaundice (a yellowing of the skin), nausea, loss of appetite and vomiting. Young children are much less likely to develop symptoms when they are infected with hepatitis A virus so the disease is often not recognized until the child's caregiver becomes ill with hepatitis A. The hepatitis A virus is found in the stools of infected people. You can catch the virus in a number of ways:

If you are changing a diaper that is contaminated with the virus, you are likely to get infected if you don't carefully scrub your hands with soap and water.

In countries with sewage and water problems, the virus can enter the water supply and contaminate anything that comes in contact with the water. So if you are travelling to a country where hepatitis A virus infections are common you should avoid the following:

• ice and unbottled water
• uncooked shellfish
• uncooked or unpeeled vegetables and fruit from street vendors
• salads

The hepatitis A vaccine is recommended for all children living in areas of the United States where the incidence of hepatitis A virus infections is at least twice the national average. California is one of these high-risk states. Others include Arizona, Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington.

For the most up to date information about hepatitis A and the hep A vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a serious public health problem that affects people of all ages in the United States and around the world. Each year, more than 240,000 people contract hepatitis B in the United States. The Hep B virus attacks the liver and can lead to severe illness, liver damage, and, in some cases, death. The best way to be protected from hepatitis B is to be vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine, which has been proven safe and effective.

Are you at risk?
About five percent of people in the U.S. will get hepatitis B sometime during their lives. Certain behaviors make your risk for hepatitis B much higher. You may be at risk for hepatitis B if you:

• have a job that exposes you to human blood
• share a household with someone who has lifelong HBV infection
• inject drugs
• have sex with a person infected with HBV
• have sex with more than one partner during a six-month period
• received blood transfusions in the past before excellent testing was available (1975)
• have hemophilia
• are a patient or worker in an institution for the developmentally disabled
• are an inmate of a long-term correctional facility
• travel internationally to areas with a high prevalence of hepatitis B

• were born in Asia, Africa, the Amazon Basin in South America, the Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe, or the Middle East
• are a person whose parents were born in an area listed above
• were adopted from an area listed above
• are an Alaska native

Hepatitis B virus can be spread by:

• unprotected sex
• injecting drug use
• during birth from mother to child
• contact with blood or open sores of an infected person
• human bites
• sharing a household with an infected person
• sharing items such as razors, toothbrushes, or washcloths
• pre-chewing food for babies or sharing chewing gum
• using unsterilized needles in ear or body piercing, tattooing, or acupuncture
• using the same immunization needle on more than one person

Hepatitis B virus IS NOT spread by:

• casual contact like holding hands
• eating food prepared by a carrier (unlike hep A)
• kissing on the cheek or dry lip kissing
• sharing silverware, plates, or cups
• visiting an infected person's home
• playing with a child who is a carrier
• sneezing or coughing

Most people who get hepatitis B as babies or children don't look or feel sick at all. Similarly, over half of adults who get hepatitis B never have any symptoms or signs of the disease. When they get the blood test results indicating they've had or have the disease many are taken by surprise. If people do have signs or symptoms, they may experience any or all of the following:

• loss of appetite
• yellow skin and eyes (jaundice)
• nausea, vomiting
• fever
• weakness, tiredness, inability to work for weeks or months
• abdominal pain and/or joint pain
• dark urine

For the most up to date information about hepatitis B:
Immunization Action Colaition
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Measles
Measles is a respiratory disease that is caused by a virus. It is spread by coughing and sneezing and is highly contagious. The measles virus causes high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes and a red, pinpoint rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. The rash lasts about a week. However, the virus can also cause pneumonia, a consequence that can lead to death. Although some people don't think of pneumonia as a consequence of measles, it is actually quite common. Some older children infected with the virus suffer from encephalitis (an infection of the brain), which, in many cases, causes permanent brain damage.

For the most up to date information about measles and the MMR vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Mumps
Mumps is caused by a virus and usually causes swelling in the salivary or parotid glands, just below the ear, lasting for seven days. The chipmunk-like appearance of people infected with mumps is how mumps got its name. Mumps can cause meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, inflammation of the pancreas and permanent deafness. Several hundred cases of mumps are still reported in the United States every year.

For the most up to date information about mumps and the MMR vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Polio
Polio is caused by a virus and is very contagious. It affects people differently - some don't feel sick at all, others complain of sore throat, fever, stomach pain or vomiting, stiff neck or headache. The virus does its damage by first reproducing itself in the intestines, then traveling through the bloodstream where it can infect the brain and spinal cord. The paralysis associated with polio occurs when the virus replicates and attacks the nervous system. Only about one in ten people who were paralyzed by polio recovered - most were confined to wheelchairs or iron lungs for the rest of their lives. Through a continuing global effort, the plan is to eradicate polio by the year 2008. The Western Hemisphere was declared polio free in 1991. However, due to international travel, the virus has been imported on a few different occasions from countries that still suffer from the disease.

The inactivated polio vaccine (or IPV) is now the only vaccine given in the United States to prevent polio, while previously OPV or polio drops were used. The advantage of the OPV was that it was almost 100 percent effective in preventing polio. Because the live virus was present in the stool of the vaccinated person, about 25 percent of people who came in contact with someone who was immunized, would also be immunized (this is called contact immunity). This helped to raise levels of protection against polio in our community. However, despite OPV's 40 years of success, there was an extremely rare but very dangerous side effect: permanent paralysis. Paralysis caused by OPV occurred in about 1 of every 750,000 first doses of the vaccine. The IPV form, now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), does not, and cannot cause paralysis.

For the most up to date information about polio and the Polio vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Pertussis
Pertussis (or whooping cough) is one of the most contagious diseases around. Caused by a bacterium, whooping cough makes children cough uncontrollably. With the cough so hard and so persistent children have trouble catching their breath. Imagine having coughing fits over a minute and trying to get air through your windpipe when it is severely narrowed by mucus! It can be very frightening. Severe pneumonia or seizures can also develop from this disease.

Pertussis is an unusual childhood disease in that children don't usually catch it from other children. Rather, pertussis is a common cause of disease in adolescents and young adults, and young children often catch it from an adult living in the home. If you have ever had a cough illness that lasted about 3 weeks, it could have been pertussis. Remember that this disease is much more serious for infants and can lead to encephalitis (due to lack of oxygen) and even death.

For the most up to date information about pertussis and the DTP/DTaP vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Rubella (German Measles)
Rubella is respiratory disease caused by a virus and is also known as German measles. It causes a mild rash on the face, swelling of glands behind the ear, occasionally a short-lived swelling of small joints (like the joints of the hand), and low-grade fever. It tends to be a mild disease in children and young adults. But not always! In the year before vaccination started, 20,000 babies were born with birth defects because of rubella's capacity to damage the developing child. If a woman is infected with rubella in the first trimester of her pregnancy, the chance that the unborn child will be permanently harmed by the virus is about 85 percent! Rubella virus causes blindness, deafness, heart defects or mental retardation.

Rubella vaccine is a unique example of vaccinating one person to protect another. We vaccinate girls so that, if they become pregnant as adults, their unborn children will be protected against the devastating effects of rubella virus. We vaccinate boys to help stop the spread of rubella in the community.

For the most up to date information about rubella and the MMR vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Tetanus
Tetanus is a disease caused by a harmful protein called a toxin. This toxin attacks the muscles and causes them to painfully constrict. If the toxin affects the muscles of the throat, breathing can be so difficult that the child will suffocate. Tetanus is different from other vaccine preventable diseases because it is not a disease that you catch from someone else. The bacteria live in the soil and usually enter the body following puncture of the skin. Items likely to be contaminated with the tetanus bacteria include nails or pieces of glass that were lying on the ground. Also, gardening is an activity that exposes people to tetanus. Once under the skin, the bacteria make a toxin that causes muscle spasms. If these spasms occur in the throat, they can interfere with breathing, causing suffocation. In addition, the toxin can also damage the heart. It's part of children's nature to play and be adventurous and as they can often injure themselves, it's important to immunize them against tetanus. Hand washing and bathing do little once the bacteria actually get under the skin.

Although tetanus bacteria are everywhere, tetanus is an uncommon cause of disease in the United States. But it's not as rare as you may think. As many as 70 cases of tetanus causing about 15 deaths are reported.

For the most up to date information about tetanus and the DTP/DTaP/DT/Td vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Pneumococcal Disease
Pneumococcus is a bacteria that is commonly found lining the surface of the nose and the back of the throat. This bacteria can cause pneumonia, meningitis, bloodstream infections, and ear infections. Much like Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), the pneumococcus bacteria affects the most defenseless of our population, infants and toddlers. Thousands of children die each year, or are permanently damaged due to diseases caused by pneumococcus. The reason that infants and young children are at greatest risk of serious infection is that they are unable to develop immunity to the sugar (or polysaccharide) that coats the bacteria, something that older children do naturally over time. Because most adults have immunity to pneumococcus, a mother will passively transfer antibodies from her own blood to the blood of her baby before the baby is born. The antibodies that the baby gets from her mother usually last for a few months. However, after that time, the baby is unprotected. Often, children who were previously healthy and well-nourished can suffer permanent disabilities or death.

The risk of pneumococcal infection is even greater for children less than 5 years of age with the following conditions:

• Children without spleens
• Children infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS
• Children with sickle cell disease
• Children who attend group child-care (defined as spending more than 4 hours a week with at least 2 other children [non-relatives] under adult supervision)
• Children who are of Alaskan Native, American Indian, or African American descent
• Children with long-term illnesses or those who have weakened immune systems caused by specific diseases (such as AIDS) or the treatment of certain diseases (such as cancer).

For the most up to date information on pneumococcal and the PCV7 vaccine:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccines at a Glance
CDC: Vaccine Information Statement
CDC: Vaccine Information

Parents & Community | School Staff | Child Care Providers | Healthcare Providers
SD Regional IZ Registry | Home | About I-3 | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Site Search

The information on this website should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider may recommend variations in treatment based on individual facts and circumstances.