OCR Text |
Show Vaccines Now in Use for Most of the Childhood Diseases women. Adolescent and adult women should be vaccinated well in advance of possible pregnancy. Once pregnancy is suspected, or confirmed, the women should not be vaccinated . Live rubella vaccine is recommended for children at 12 months or later. If a combination vaccine the two measles and mumps is used, it is given at 15 months. Live mumps virus vaccine should be administered to children at 15 months of age. It also is indicated for children approaching ap-proaching puberty, for adolescents, and for adults (especially men) who have not had the disease. All kids have to have measles and mumps, right. Wrong. There are now excellent vaccines that will protect our children against both kinds of measles and against mumps. Rubeola (measles, mumps, and Rubella (German measles) were commonplace among small children for centruies . Most children had relatively mild cases, recovered without problems, and thence were immune. But not all of them. Rubella and rubeola both can cause serious complications in the occasional child. Rubella often is so mild that it is overlooked, but if acquired by a i .. voman in early pregnancy, the disease poses a direct threat of heart defects and other defects to the unborn child. Live virsu measles vaccine is safe and effective, says the American Medical Association. Ago of vaccination should be 15 months or later for children who miss out at this age. It also should be given to children who have received the killed virus measles vaccine. In the event of a neighborhood epidemic, your doctor might decide to begin immunizing children at as early an age as six months. Widespread use of the rubella vaccine could eliminate the reservoir of disease among children, who are the major source of infection for pregnant |