Any contaminated puncture wounds, whether from a rusty nail, bite, or scratch, may require a tetanus shot and TIG if your immunizations aren’t current.

DTaP stands for Diphtheria, Tetanus and acellular Pertussis.

In general, you do not need to restart the entire series of a vaccine if you miss one or more doses. You should schedule a visit as soon as possible to get caught up though.

You or your Pediatrician can report possible vaccine side effects to VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

The Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria can commonly cause meningitis, blood infections, pneumonia and ear infections.

Vaccines are neither 100% safe nor 100% effective, but they do offer the ‘highest degree of protection with the lowest rate of untoward effects’ and the benefits of getting vaccinated is thought by most professionals to outweigh the risks.

Newspapers reported that Heather Whitestone, who won the Miss America pageant in 1994, had a reaction to the DPT shot. In reality, her deafness was a result of a Hib infection.

Flumist, a nasal spray flu vaccine, can be given to healthy children who are at least 2 years old, so this child could either get a regular flu shot or the nasal spray.

The first MMR vaccine usually isn’t given until a child is 12-15 months of age, although it can be given as early as 6 months if they will be traveling to a high risk area or during an outbreak, with the dose repeated at 12 months. The first DTaP is given at 2 months and the influenza vaccine (flu shot) can be given to infants over age 6 months. The Td or tetanus vaccine is not given until a child is at least 7 years old.

In general, you can get a flu shot if you are breastfeeding or pregnant. People with severe egg allergies should talk to their doctor before getting a flu shot, but they can still usually be vaccinated. There is no association between milk allergies and the flu shot.

MMR is a combination of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines.

College students, particularly those who live in dormitories, have a slightly increased risk of getting meningococcal disease and should get a meningococcal vaccine (Menactra or Menveo). A menB vaccine is also now available.

There is currently no hepatitis C vaccine, but children and adults can get vaccinated with both the hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines.

The oral polio or Sabin vaccine is no longer given to children in the United States because in a few people (about one in 2.4 million), it can cause polio. The oral polio vaccine is actually better at keeping the disease from spreading to other people though and is still used in many parts of the world.

There are vaccines to protect against smallpox and anthrax, however there are no vaccines against SARS or the West Nile virus. The vaccine against Lyme Disease is no longer available. We do have a Rotavirus vaccine.

Since Hib and Prevnar are usually only given to children under age 5, you would not have to repeat all of his shots. You will have to repeat some of them though (DTaP (4doses), IPV (3doses), hepatitis A (2 doses), hepatitis B (3 doses), MMR (2 doses), Chickenpox (2 doses)) if you do not test his immunity or titer testing does not prove that he is immune.

A pregnant household member, including the child’s mother, is not a contraindication to administration of any vaccine.

Vaccine-induced immunity to pertussis is thought to last for just a few years following the last dose. Measles and chickenpox immunity is long lasting.

In general, vaccines do not need to be delayed for mild illnesses, with or without fever, such as a cold or if your child is taking antibiotics. Having had a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine is usually a contraindication or reason not to get another one.