Is Your Child Up to Date on Their Immunizations?

Is Your Child Up to Date on Their Immunizations?

You do everything you can to keep your children from getting sick: give them vitamins, wash their hands, keep them away from others immunizationswho have the cold or flu. One of the best decisions you can make for your child's health is to keep them current on their vaccination schedule. At Spectrum Pediatric Group in Kennesaw, GA, Dr. Kola Ologunja and his medical staff have the experience necessary to make sure your child has received the proper vaccinations. The typical schedule is outlined here.

Infants

At two months of age, your pediatrician recommends bringing your child to Spectrum Pediatric Group to receive following vaccinations:

  • DTaP: Protects against diptheria, tetanus and pertussis. In recent years, pertussis or whooping cough, has been on the rise, making this vaccine very important for infants.
  • HiB: Protects against dangerous bacterial infections like meningitis and pneumonia.
  • IVP: Protects against poliomyelitis, a virus that attacks the spinal cord and causes paralysis. Although it is extremely rare in America due to the vaccine, the increase in world travel makes the vaccine a necessary precaution.
  • PCV/PPSV: Protects against pneumococcal bacteria, which can cause several different illnesses from middle ear infections to blood stream infections.
  • RV: Protects against rotavirus, a severe infection of the digestive tract.

At four months and six months, most of these vaccines require boosters. Once your child is six months old, they can receive the annual flu vaccine to help prevent severe respiratory illness. Between one and two years, the MMR vaccine can be given; this prevents measles (a respiratory illness causing an all-over rash), mumps (an infection of the salivary glands) and rubella (also known as German measles; causes an illness with a rash that is very dangerous to pregnant women). More boosters may be required during infancy and the toddler years; talk to your Kennesaw pediatrician.

Children

Between ages 4 and 6, your child should receive boosters of DTaP, MMR and IPV. The varicella vaccine is also given to prevent chicken pox, a contagious virus that causes a high fever and itchy blisters all over the body.

Adolescents and teens

A tetanus/diptheria/pertussis booster is the last of the childhood vaccines that your child will receive, usually between the ages of 11 and 12. During this time and between the ages of 16 and 18, your pediatrician will also recommend receiving vaccinations that prevent different types of meningitis, which is a severe infection of the fluids that surround the brain and spinal cord.

Keeping your children healthy is your number one priority, and choosing a pediatrician is part of that process. We here at Spectrum Pediatric Group in Kennesaw, GA want to work with you to prevent your children from experiencing major illnesses. Give us a call to update your child's vaccination record today!