Eight Questions Answered About Immunizations

Why should your child be immunized? Vaccinations protect children from dangerous childhood diseases that can have serious complications and even result in death. What diseases do childhood vaccines prevent? Immunizations can prevent diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, rubella, tetanus, and chicken pox. Vaccines can also prevent several major causes of bacterial meningitis. How many doses of a vaccine does your child need? 4 doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTaP) 4 doses of Hib vaccine 4 doses of pneumococcal vaccine 3 doses of polio vaccine 2 doses of hepatitis A vaccine 3 doses of … Continue reading →

Cervical Cancer Vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved Gardasil — a vaccine that targets four strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). Two of the four viruses are responsible for approximately seventy percent of all cervical cancers. The other two virus strains are to blame for approximately ninety percent of all cases of genital warts. HPV is most often spread through sexual contact. The virus is a very common sexually transmitted disease; approximately twenty million people in the United States are infected. According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least eighty percent of women will have had the virus by age … Continue reading →