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Vaccine-Preventable Childhood Diseases
Vaccinate your child by age 2 !
Diphtheria
- Easily spread through coughing or sneezing.
- Early symptoms are sore throat, slight fever and chills.
- Can interfere with swallowing and cause suffocation.
- Can cause heart failure or paralysis if allowed to go untreated.
- Can be prevented with DTaP Vaccine (Td for adults).
Haemophilus influenzae type b (also known as Hib disease)
- More serious in infants under one year of age.
- Causes pneumonia and infections of the blood, joints, bones, soft tissues, throat and covering of the heart.
- Before the vaccine, caused Meningitis in about 12,000 children per year; about one in four suffered permanent brain damage; and about one in 20 died.
- Hib Vaccine prevents this disease.
Hepatitis B
- Infants born to infected mothers have up to an 85% chance of getting the infection.
- HBV infection is spread within families and communities.
- Infection at birth or during early childhood can result in long-term chronic illness.
- Chronically infected persons can develop chronic liver disease and a rare form of cancer.
- HBV Vaccine prevents this disease.
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Measles
- Highly contagious.
- Causes a rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, lasting from one to two weeks.
- May lead to ear infections and pneumonia.
- May cause encephalitis, which may lead to convulsions, deafness or mental retardation.
- Of every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die.
- MMR Vaccine prevents this disease.
Mumps
- Causes ear infections and pneumonia in one out of every 20 children who get it.
- Causes encephalitis that can lead to convulsions, deafness or mental retardation in one out of every 1,000 children who get it.
- Causes fever, headache and inflammation of the salivary glands, resulting in swelling of cheeks or jaw.
- One out of every 10 who get mumps may develop Meningitis or Encephalitis.
- Can result in permanent loss of hearing.
- MMR Vaccine prevents this disease.
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Pertussis (also known as whooping cough)
- Highly contagious.
- Causes severe spells of coughing which can interfere with eating, drinking and breathing.
- Complications may include pneumonia, convulsions or encephalitis.
- In the United States about 65% of reported cases occur in children under 5, and half of those are infants less than one year old.
- In recent years, an average of 3,500 cases were reported in the United States.
- Can be prevented with DTaP Vaccine.
Polio
- Serious cases cause paralysis and death.
- Mild cases cause fever, sore throat, nausea, headaches, stomach aches, stiffness in the neck, back and legs.
- Can be prevented with the Polio Vaccine.
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Rubella (also known as German Measles)
- Most serious in pregnant women; there is an 80% chance that it will cause defects in the unborn child if infection occurs in early pregnancy.
- Symptoms include mild discomfort, slight fever for 24 hours, joint pain, and a rash on the face and neck lasting for two or three days.
- MMR Vaccine prevents this disease.
Tetanus (also known as lockjaw)
- Enters the body through a wound.
- Produces a poison which affects the body's nervous system.
- Symptoms are headache, irritability, stiffness in jaw and neck.
- Causes muscle spasms in jaw, neck, arms, legs and abdomen.
- May require intensive hospital care.
- Three out of every 10 people in the United States who get Tetanus die.
- Can be prevented with DTaP Vaccine (Td for adults).
Varicella (also known as chickenpox)
- Highly contagious.
- Four million cases occur in the United States each year.
- Causes more than 9,000 hospitalizations and up to 100 deaths each year.
- Most cases occur in children under 15 years of age.
- Causes fever, body aches and an itchy rash. The rash first appears as red spots, which quickly become raised bumps and then develop into blisters.
- Newborns and the immunocompromised are at higher risk of complications.
- Can cause painful skin lesions, known as Herpes Zoster or shingles, later in life.
- VAR Vaccine prevents this disease.
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