What Vaccines Should You and Your Family Have?

The flu is just one in a long list of serious illnesses that vaccines can prevent — along with measles, human papillomavirus (HPV), rotavirus, and tetanus.

Have you ever had the flu? There's a good chance you or someone close to you has come down with this common viral illness at some time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the flu sickens nine to 41 million Americans each year. Most get well within a week, but up to 710,000 people are sick enough to need a hospital, and as many as 52,000 die.

The flu is just one in a long list of serious illnesses vaccines can prevent — along with measles, human papillomavirus (HPV), rotavirus, and tetanus. That's why the CDC includes them in its schedule of recommended vaccines for adults and children.

 

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Vaccines you and your family need

Here are vaccines you and your children should have and when you should get them.

Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP, Tdap, Td)

This vaccine protects you against three very serious bacterial illnesses. Diphtheria is a potentially life-threatening infection that can cause breathing and heart rhythm problems. Tetanus causes painful muscle spasms that can affect breathing. Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is a dangerous respiratory infection that causes a whoop-like cough in babies.

Children need five does at:

1. 2 months
2. 4 months
3. 6 months
4. 15 to 18 months
5. 4 to 6 years

Teens need one dose at age 11 or 12.

Adults need:

1. One dose if you were not previously vaccinated
2. Then one dose of Td or Tdap every 10 years

Pregnant women need one dose during weeks 27 to 36 of your pregnancy.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

This vaccine protects you against a group of bacterial illnesses that cause ear infections and blood infections.

Children need either a three- or a four-dose series, depending on the vaccine brand:

1. Pedvax HIB three-dose series: 2, 4, and 12 to 15 months
2. ActHIB, Hiberix, Pentacel, or Vaxelis four-dose series: 2, 4, 6, and 12 to 15 months

Hepatitis A

This vaccine protects you against hepatitis A, a liver infection that spreads from person to person and through contaminated food.

Children need doses at 12 to 23 months.

Hepatitis B

This vaccine protects you against hepatitis B, a liver infection that causes symptoms like fatigue, nausea, and jaundice, and can eventually progress to liver cancer or cirrhosis.

Children need doses at:

1. Birth
2. 1 to 3 months
3. 6 to 18 months

Adults ages 19 to 59 need a two-, three-, or four-dose series.

Human papillomavirus (HPV)

This vaccine protects you against a sexually transmitted infection that causes genital warts and cervical cancer.

Children or teens need two or three doses, depending on their age at the first dose:

1. Ages 9 to 14: Two doses spaced at least five months apart
2. Ages 15 or older: Three doses

Adults 26 or younger need two or three doses (depending on the age of their first dose).

Inactivated poliovirus (IPV)

This vaccine protects you against polio, a virus that affects the brain and spinal cord and can cause paralysis or death.

Children need four doses at:

1. 2 months
2. 4 months
3. 6 to 18 months
4. 4 to 6 years

Influenza

This vaccine protects you against influenza, or the flu — a viral respiratory illness that can be serious in high-risk groups like children and older adults.

Children need:

1. Two doses, spaced 4 weeks apart, for children ages 6 months to 18 years who have not previously been vaccinated
2. One dose each year for children ages 6 months and older who have had their first two doses

Teens need one dose every year. Adults also need one dose every year.

You can check COVID-19 vaccine recommendations here.

Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)

This vaccine protects you against three viral illnesses. Measles causes a rash and fever. Mumps makes the salivary glands in the face swell up. Rubella causes a fever and a distinctive red rash.

Children need doses at:

1. 12 to 15 months
2. 4 to 6 years

Adults need one dose if you have no immunity (based on a blood test) to these diseases.

Meningococcal

This vaccine protects you against bacteria that cause meningitis, inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

Children need doses at:

1. 11 to 12 years
2. 16 years

Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13, PCV15, PCV20, PPSV23)

This vaccine protects you against diseases caused by pneumococcal bacteria, including pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, and meningitis.

Children need four doses of PCV13:

1. 2 months
2. 4 months
3. 6 months
4. 12 to 15 months

Adults aged 65 or older need either:

1. One dose of PCV20
2. Or one dose of PCV15 plus one dose of PPSV23 one year later

Rotavirus

The rotavirus vaccine protects you against a virus that causes diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.

Children need two or three doses, depending on the brand, at:

1. Rotarix 2-dose series: 2 and 4 months
2. RotaTeq 3-dose series: 2, 4, and 6 months

Varicella

This vaccine protects you against chickenpox, a disease caused by the varicella zoster virus that causes a red rash.

Children need doses at:

1. 12 to 15 months
2. 4 to 6 months

Adults need two doses, spaced 4 to 8 weeks apart, if you have not previously received the vaccine.

Zoster

This vaccine protects you against shingles, a virus that causes a painful blistering rash. Shingles can occur if you previously had chickenpox.

Adults aged 50 or older need two doses, spaced 2 to 6 months apart.

Are vaccines safe?

No vaccine is approved in the United States until it is thoroughly safety tested.

Vaccines can cause side effects, but they are usually mild and last only a few days. The benefits of vaccination in preventing potentially deadly diseases far outweigh any risks.

The most common vaccine side effects are:

1. Redness, swelling, and soreness at the injection site
2. Low-grade fever
3. Fussiness (in children)

Getting more than one vaccine at once won't overload your or your child's immune system. Our immune systems are designed to fight off a variety of germs at once.

What you can do

These are just general vaccine recommendations. Ask your primary care doctor which vaccines you need. If you have a compromised immune system or a chronic medical condition, you may need additional vaccines or doses that are not listed here.

 

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