Vaccine Information

This respiratory virus is so contagious that usually every susceptible person in the home of an infected individual will also get it. Complications include pneumonia, encephalitis (infection of the brain) and bacterial infections, such as group A streptococcus infection (commonly known as “flesh-eating bacteria”).

While children are as likely as adults to catch the virus that causes COVID-19, kids are less likely to become seriously ill. But some children with COVID-19 need to be hospitalized, treated in the intensive care unit or placed on a machine to help them breathe, called a ventilator. Very rarely, COVID-19 can cause death.

The Diphtheria bacteria release a toxin which causes a membrane to form in the throat. This membrane strangles the child by obstructing breathing and swallowing. The toxin can also attack the heart, kidneys and nerves.

Many people with hepatitis A virus infection experience loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea, fatigue and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin). Symptoms can last for up to six months. Hepatitis A can still cause hospitalization, a rapid overwhelming infection of the liver, and death.

Hepatitis B infections can cause no noticeable symptoms (asymptomatic), result in mild symptoms that last several weeks, or become a lifelong, chronic illness that results in scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) or liver cancer.

HPV is transmitted from one person to another by genital contact. Although this most often occurs during sexual intercourse, it can also occur during oral or through genital-to-genital contact in the absence of sexual intercourse. HPV infections are typically not symptomatic. HPV 16 and 18 are the most common strains, accounting for about 7 of every 10 cases of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer often doesn’t occur until 20 years after the initial infection.

Influenza (flu) is a virus that infects the nose, throat, windpipe and lungs. The virus is highly contagious. Typical symptoms of influenza include fever, chills, muscle aches, congestion, cough, runny nose and difficulty breathing. Sadly, each year about 50 to 150 children also die from influenza. Children younger than 4 years of age often require hospitalization because of high fever, wheezing, croup or pneumonia.

Measles is highly contagious and is spread through respiratory droplets from infected individuals. Measles infections can cause complications that range from diarrhea or ear infections to more severe complications including swelling of the brain (encephalitis), infection of the lungs (pneumonia), seizures or death.

Meningococcus is one of the most rapid and overwhelming infectious diseases known to man. 1 in 10 people with meningitis caused by meningococcus will die from the infection. Death from sepsis can occur within 12 hours of the beginning of the illness.

Mumps is easily caught and transmitted by children. Teens and adults are more likely to experience complications. The testes and ovaries can become swollen (called orchitis and oophoritis, respectively). In rare cases, orchitis can result in infertility. The pancreas, heart, brain and spinal cord can also become inflamed. Rarely, women infected during the first trimester of pregnancy will experience miscarriage.

Pertussis, or whooping cough, occurs in three stages. The first stage is like common cold, with runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever and coughing. After a week or two, illness progresses to fits of coughing can be so violent that blood vessels can rupture and ribs can break. Infants, whose windpipes are narrower than those of older children, often turn blue during coughing spells because of lack of oxygen. This stage can last up to two months.

This family of bacteria can cause serious infections in people. Pneumococcus can lead to infections of the ears, sinuses, brain and spinal cord (meningitis), lungs (pneumonia) or bloodstream (sepsis).

Polio virus first replicates, or reproduces, in the intestines. Then it travels through the bloodstream where it can infect the brain and spinal cord. Polio virus causes paralysis when it replicates in and attacks the nervous system.

Rotavirus causes significant high fever, vomiting and diarrhea. All three symptoms cause children to lose fluids. Vomiting caused by rotavirus can be frequent, persistent and severe. Throughout the world, rotavirus kills about 500,000 infants and young children every year, more than any other single infectious disease. About 1,400 children die every day from rotavirus.

RSV is a virus that infects the lining of the nose, breathing tubes and lungs. The damage caused by viral replication leads to excess mucus and inflammation in the affected person’s breathing tubes. For young infants with narrow airways, an RSV infection can cause them to become apneic, meaning they stop breathing for short periods of time.

When rubella occurs during pregnancy, children are born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS).  Before the rubella vaccine as many as 20,000 babies were born every year with blindness, deafness, heart defects or mental deficits when the mother was infected early in pregnancy.

Tetanus bacteria live in the soil and usually enter the body through punctures or wounds that are not kept clean. Once under the skin, the bacteria make a toxin that causes muscle spasm. These spasms can affect the throat and jaw making it difficult to breathe and can lead to suffocation.