Vax info - Schedule from Stephanie Cave
"What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations", by Stephanie Cave, MD - pages 294-296
Hepatitis B
- At birth only if mother is hepB positive or unknown.
For all other children:
HIB, IPV, DTaP (All should be mercury-free)
I do not routinely use this vaccine prior to age two at this time because it is not mandated, it is very expensive, and because the pneumococcal safety data is still unclear. The vaccine should be discussed with your doctor and given on an individual basis. I reccomend one dose at two years of age for my patients.
[Note from me: Everything I've read suggests that this vaccine isn't even effective to a large degree in children under the age of 2 years.]
Varicella (Varivax)
Hepatitis B
- At birth only if mother is hepB positive or unknown.
For all other children:
- For children attending daycare. Consider postponing giving HepB until just before starting daycare if the state mandates the vaccine for entry.
- For children NOT attending daycare: Consider postponing vaccine until the year before starting school. Consider giving the second shot one month after the first shot and the third at least four months after the first.
HIB, IPV, DTaP (All should be mercury-free)
- I generally start Hib at four months with IPV followed by DTaP at five months. In this case I believe it is relatively safe to give two vaccines - Hib and IPV - together, as the polio vaccine is much less likely to cause reactions.
- Second series at six months (Hib & IPV), followed by DTaP at seven months.
- Third series at eight months (Hib), followed by DTaP at nine months.
- Fourth series at seventeen months (Hib, IPV) and eighteen months for DTaP
- Boosters for DTaP and IPV at four to five years of age.
I do not routinely use this vaccine prior to age two at this time because it is not mandated, it is very expensive, and because the pneumococcal safety data is still unclear. The vaccine should be discussed with your doctor and given on an individual basis. I reccomend one dose at two years of age for my patients.
[Note from me: Everything I've read suggests that this vaccine isn't even effective to a large degree in children under the age of 2 years.]
Varicella (Varivax)
- I generally recommend giving this vaccine close to school age if mandated by law and if the child is not immune to chicken pox based on a blood test. I do not recommend its use in my one-year-old patients.
- I generally postpone the vaccine until the child is four to five years old, and test the child for immunity to chicken pox virus. If the child is negative, the vaccine may be given unless contraindicated.
- I recommend administration of MMR in separate vaccines, beginning at fifteen months of age: measles vaccine first, followed by rubella twelve months later, and by mumps twelve months after rubella.
- The preschool boosters may be given at age four to five years, during the six months before the child starts school. You may want to ask your doctor to check the titres for immunity to the MMR and to skip the booster if the child already has immunity and the laws of your state permit proof of immunity in place of the shots. Retest titers at twelve years of age.