Children's Vaccines

How Effective Are Flu Vaccines? (Children's Vaccines)

Study Suggests Flu Vaccine Provides Moderate Protection Against Flu By Salynn Boyles Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD Oct. 25, 2011 -- As flu season approaches, a new analysis finds that th...

Expert Q&A: Vaccine Safety (Children's Vaccines)

By Kathleen Doheny Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD For parents, childhood vaccines are a source of reassurance -- protecting your child against disease naturally helps you sleep better at night -...

Alternate Vaccine Schedule (Children's Vaccines)

What is the Alternative Vaccine Schedule? Experts debate the pros and cons of the alternative vaccine schedule, and what it means for parents. Feature By Katherine Kam Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD When pediatricia...

Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTaP) (Children's Vaccines)

DTaP is a vaccine that lets children younger than 7 develop immunity to three deadly diseases caused by bacteria: diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (pertussis). Tdap is a booster immunization that offers continued protection from those diseases...

See What Chickenpox and Other Common Childhood Skin Problems LookLike

What's That?Wondering what that rash, welt, or bump on your child's skin is? Infection, allergies, and temperature extremes are often behind the skin conditions seen in babies and children -- and many are minor and easily treated. You can learn to re...

Chickenpox (Varicella) (Children's Vaccines)

If you're a betting person, think chickenpox. Pick any adult out of a crowd. The odds that he or she has had chickenpox are about as close to a sure thing as you're ever going to get. But those odds are changing now that we have the chickenpox vac...

Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) (Children's Vaccines)

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is one of the recommended childhood vaccinations. The three-in-one vaccine protects against three potentially serious illnesses. In most states, proof of the MMR vaccine is required for children to ent...

Polio (IPV) (Children's Vaccines)

Polio, an infectious disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract, was once the leading cause of disability in the U.S. Since the introduction of the polio vaccine in 1955, the disease has been eradicated in the U.S. But th...

Hepatitis A and B (Children's Vaccines)

Hepatitis A and hepatitis B are two members of a family of closely related diseases -- the others being hepatitis C, D, and E -- that are caused by a viral infection. Although the virus that causes each is different, the diseases are similar. Hepatit...

H. influenzae (Hib) (Children's Vaccines)

Despite its name, the bacterium called Haemophilus influenzae type b or Hib does not cause the flu. It does, however, cause Hib disease, a serious health threat to children under the age of 5. Fortunately, the Hib vaccine, available since 1992, provi...

Pneumococcal (PCV13) (Children's Vaccines)

For more than 30 years, there has been a vaccine that can safely prevent pneumococcal disease -- a serious infection caused by a bacterium known as Streptococcus pneumoniae. But the PPSV vaccine (pneumococcal polysaccharide) cannot be used for the pa...

Rotavirus (RV) (Children's Vaccines)

Rotavirus gets its name from the fact that, under a microscope, the virus resembles a wheel. And you could say, like you might say about a wheel, rotavirus goes round and round. This nasty, potentially lethal bug causes severe acute gastroenteriti...

Meningococcal (MPSV4/MCV4) (Children's Vaccines)

Meningococcal disease is an infection caused by a strain of bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis. This nasty bug is one of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis in children aged 2 to 18 in the U.S. Meningococcal disease can include mening...

Flu Vaccine (Children's Vaccines)

Each year during flu season, at least one in every 20 people in the U.S. will come down with influenza or flu. Some years, that number can be as high as one in every five. For most of us, getting the flu means several days of feeling pretty miserable...

HPV Vaccine (Children's Vaccines)

1. What is HPV? Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S. There are about 40 types of HPV. About 20 million people in the U.S. are infected, and about 6.2 ...