At about the age of two months, Canadian infants begin receiving a series of vaccines to prevent a number of diseases. If children get all the shots now recommended by the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS), they will have received at least 15 shots by the time they reach adolescence.
Vaccinations prevent serious diseases, such as polio, tetanus and diphtheria, as well as illnesses that can have serious or even life-threatening complications, such as deafness and brain damage. "Immunization is one of the most important -- if not the most important -- achievements we've made in medicine in the last century," says Dr. Michelle Ponti, a pediatrician in London, Ont., and spokesperson for the CPS. Here are five things you and your family should know about vaccinations.
1. Three new vaccines have been added to the list of recommended inoculations for infants and children.
For years children in Canada have received four recommended vaccinations that protect against:
• diphtheria, tetanus (lockjaw), pertussis (whooping cough) and poliomyelitis (polio);
• Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) (a bacterium that causes illnesses such as meningitis, ear infections, sinusitis and pneumonia);
• measles, mumps and rubella (German measles); and
• hepatitis B.
Now, the CPS recommends that infants receive three newly available inoculations, including:
• the varicella vaccine (chickenpox);
• the pneumococcal vaccine (otitis media, pneumonia and meningitis); and
• the meningococcal vaccine (meningitis).
These newly recommended vaccines are not covered by all provincial health plans. As with all vaccines, "it's important that your child receive [these new ones] … at the right times to be protected" stresses the CPS. The recommended schedule for these vaccines varies according to province.
Since episodes of whooping cough are showing up among Canadian teenagers, the CPS also recommends that children receive a booster pertussis shot later on, between the ages of 14 and 16.
