Help Protect Your Family
As a parent, your child’s health is a top priority. Vaccinations can help protect children, as well as adults, from serious diseases that can cause harm. Vaccinations have reduced and in some cases (i.e., smallpox, paralytic polio) eliminated serious diseases in the U.S.
To help protect your family and prevent the spread of serious diseases, public health and medical experts recommend vaccinations for children, preteens and teens. These recommendations are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Schools or daycare centers may require children to receive certain shots for entry. As kids get older, the protection from some childhood vaccines may decline. For example, the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination wears off after 5 to 10 years after the completion of childhood vaccination, so a booster shot is recommended. The CDC recommends that children receive several vaccinations at their 11- or 12- year-old check-up, including the whooping cough vaccine if they have not been vaccinated or if their shots are not up-to-date.
Did you know...
In addition to getting vaccinations routinely recommended for their age range, your child may need to catch up on missed vaccinations or vaccinations that were not available when he or she was younger. Ask your healthcare provider about these and other vaccinations that may also be recommended.
Combination shots may also help make it easier and less stressful to meet immunization recommendations and school entry requirements by reducing the number of shots given in a single visit.
Your Child’s Recommended Shots
You can use the checklists on the next page to record your child’s vaccinations. It provides a list of vaccinations that your child and/or teen may need, along with the diseases they help protect against. Don’t forget to talk to your healthcare provider about the recommended shots.
What You Can Do
- Talk to your child’s healthcare provider about the recommended shots for your child
- Talk to your child’s school nurse about the vaccinations that may be required for school
- Take your child to his or her healthcare provider for a check-up
- Ask if your child’s shots are up-to-date for his or her age group
- Use this handout as a reminder of the shots your child gets and the dates he or she gets them
- Parents should also ask their healthcare provider if their own shots are up-to-date
Vaccination Checklist 4- to 6- Year-Old Children
Recommended
|
Date(s) Given
|
|
Influenza & H1N1 Influenza
Helps protect against influenza (flu) and
the H1N1 strain of influenza (swine flu)
|
|
|
Measles, Mumps and Rubella
Protects against measles, mumps, and rubella
|
|
|
Varicella
Protects against chickenpox
|
|
|
Inactivated Poliovirus
Protects against polio
|
|
|
DTaP
Protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough)
|
|
High-Risk
|
|
|
Meningococcal Conjugate
Protects against meningococcal disease
|
|
|
Pneumococcal Polysaccharide
Protects against pneumococcal disease
|
|
|
Hepatitis A
Protects against hepatitis A
|
|
CATCH-UP: Children who did not receive vaccinations at the recommended age may be able to receive “catch up” vaccinations for them, as well as other vaccinations they may have missed when they were younger.
Vaccination Checklist for 11- to 12-Year-Olds (and Catch-Up for Teens)*
Recommended
|
Date(s) Given
|
|
Tdap
Booster Protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough)
|
|
|
Meningococcal Conjugate
Protects against meningococcal disease
|
|
|
Human Papillomavirus
Protects against cervical cancer
|
|
|
Influenza & H1N1 Influenza
Helps protect against influenza (flu) and
the H1N1 strain of influenza (swine flu)
|
|
High-Risk
|
|
|
Hepatitis A
Protects against hepatitis A
|
|
|
Pneumococcal Polysaccharide
Protects against pneumococcal disease
|
|
Catch-Up
|
|
|
Hepatitis A
Helps protect against
hepatitis A
|
|
|
Pneumococcal Vaccine
Helps protect against
pneumococcal disease
|
|
CATCH-UP: Adolescents who did not receive vaccinations at the recommended age may be able to receive “catch up” vaccinations for them, as well as other vaccinations they may have missed when they were younger.
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