Pediatric Vaccinations, Making Little Children Cry!
Stephen Hittman, DO
Although some parents question the need for them, it is clear that immunizations have had an enormous impact on the incidence of infectious diseases. Very few young physicians practicing today have seen polio, measles or hemophilus influenzae, just to name a few. Even chicken pox is becoming a rarity.
In the past two years there have been many new shots recommended for infants and older children. An oral vaccine for rotavirus is now given to infants at the two, four, and six month visits. Two hepatitis A vaccines are recommended for children, which can be given as early as one year old. A second dose of the varicella vaccine, three months after the first one, has recently been recommended. The vaccine for Meningococcal Meningitis is now given to children as young as eleven, whereas previously it was only given to college students. A vaccine that protects against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is recommended for females ages eleven to twenty-six.
Dr. Stephen Hittman, Clinical Director, Maryland Primary Care Physicians, is an American Board of Pediatrics certified pediatrician at our Odenton Office.
