It is National Infant Immunization Week and Greene County Public Health highlights the different vaccines that newborns are required to have and others that they offer.
Greene County Public Health Director Shelby Cooklin tells Raccoon Valley Radio there are several vaccines that newborns receive at birth such as polio, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics that help to protect against serious and even life-threatening diseases. Cooklin notes other recommended vaccines for infants are given on a carefully timed schedule that is flexible with a newborn’s development of their immune system.
Cooklin stresses the importance of getting infants certain vaccinations, it helps to train their developing immune systems to recognize and fight off harmful germs that can cause disease. She points out that without vaccines, even the rare diseases could come back and spread quickly among young children, such as the situation with the number of measles cases and some resulting in the deaths of young kids.
Cooklin adds some other healthy measures people can take to ensure better health for an infant includes practicing good hand hygiene, cleaning toys and other high-touch surfaces regularly, avoiding crowded public areas during cold and flu season, and keeping babies home when they are sick to prevent spreading of their germs.
Required vaccines at birth:
- Hepatitis B (a liver infection)
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP) – Pertussis is also known as whooping cough
- Polio – a virus that can cause paralysis
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) – a cause of meningitis in young children
- Pneumococcal disease (PCV 20) – which can lead to pneumonia, blood infections, and meningitis
- Rotavirus – a virus that causes severe diarrhea
- MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) – starting at 12 months
- Varicella (chickenpox) – starting at 12 months
- Hepatitis A – typically starting at 12 months
Optional vaccines for infants:
- Birth: Hepatitis B (1st dose)
- 2 months: DTaP, IPV (Polio), Hib, PCV 20, Rotavirus, Hepatitis B (2nd dose)
- 4 months: Second round of DTaP, IPV, Hib, PCV 20, Rotavirus
- 6 months: Third doses of DTaP, Hepatitis B, PCV 20, IPV, and Hib, depending on brand, and first flu shot
- 12 months and up: MMR, Varicella, Hepatitis A, possibly DTaP, IPV, and PCV 20