Combination Vaccines

Every child will have nearly 22 shots of vaccines before he enters the school. The parents may think whether it is possible to eradicate diseases from the world itself so that their child may get less number of shots. The least they can do is to put combination vaccines that will reduce the pain of large number of shots. Already we know about some common combination vaccines like MMR that will prevent measles, mumps and rubella and DTP that prevents Diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Yet there are some more combination vaccines.

You can combine MMR and HiB vaccine that can be given as 3 doses. It will reduce one shot to your child. Similarly you can combine MMR and Hepatitis B. Hepatitis A and B can be combined and can be given in two doses at regular 6 months interval. But this combination is allowed only to adults more than 18 years of age. DTP and Hepatitis B are allowed to combine outside US. DTP, Hepatitis B, IPV and HIB can also be put together as combined vaccines.

TriHIBit is a combination vaccine that gives protection against Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and HiB. You can give it as a fourth dose for children above 1 year. Pediarix is another combination vaccine that combines DTP, hepatitis B and IPV which is a polio vaccine. It can be given as 3 separate doses at 2, 4 and 6 months of a child’s age. You can combine IPV with DTP and HIB also. These combinations are licensed and they do not cause any side effects. Mild fever and body pain is normal and curable with normal paracetamol drops.

Tetanus and Diphtheria vaccine can be combined for adults and it is advisable to put them every 10 years.

The cost of combining the vaccines is sometimes more than the separate vaccine. But you can avoid the pain and fear of your child. In some cases combining vaccines is not that much effective. So a lot of research regarding this is necessary. While giving combined vaccines ensure that such combination is licensed. Over dosage of any vaccine may cause severe effects including brain damage. Be sure that such combination vaccine does not exceed the allowed dose.

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