Immunizations and Vaccinations

Our Vaccination Practice

Our practice follows the immunization guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). For information about these vaccines, the diseases they protect against, immunization schedules, vaccine safety and other important information please visit the AAP™ immunization page.

https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/immunization/Pages/default.aspx

Prepare for your first office visit with our Consent for Administration of Vaccines.

Our Vaccination Practice

Our practice follows the immunization guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). For information about these vaccines, the diseases they protect against, immunization schedules, vaccine safety and other important information please visit the AAP™ immunization page.

https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/immunization/Pages/default.aspx

Prepare for your first office visit with our Consent for Administration of Vaccines.

Our Vaccine Policy

*We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives. 

*We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines. 

*We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

*We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as healthcare providers and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. 

The recommended vaccines and the vaccine schedule are the results of years and years of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians. 

The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or even chickenpox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases.

Such success can make us complacent or even lazy about vaccinating.

When you don’t vaccinate, you take a significant risk with your child’s health and the health of others around them.

We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We recognize that the choice may be a very emotional one for some parents. We will do everything we can to convince you that vaccinating according to the schedule is the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, not all children can be safely vaccinated. We see patients with immune problems, cancer, and organ transplants—children who can’t be vaccinated. We also see special needs kids and premature babies at special risk for complications from infections. We need to do our absolute best to make sure that our office and waiting rooms are safe for all children, even those who can’t be protected with vaccines.

That makes it especially important that every single child who can get their immunizations gets them, on time, to protect all of us. We are committed to protecting the health of your children through vaccination, we require all of our patients to be vaccinated. If you should absolutely refuse to vaccinate your child despite all our efforts, we will ask you to find another healthcare provider who shares your views.

We do not keep a list of such providers, nor would we recommend any such physician. Please recognize that by not vaccinating, you are putting your child at unnecessary risk for life-threatening illness and disability, and even death.



As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating your child on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do to protect all children and young adults. Thank you for taking the time to read this policy. Please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us. 

Well Baby/Immunization Schedule

Birth - Hep B

1 week - Check growth/development

1 month - Hep B

2 months - Pentacel, Prevnar*, Rotateq*  Developmental Screening: ASQ

4 months - Pentacel, Prevnar*, Rotateq*  Developmental Screening: ASQ

6 months - Pentacel, Prevnar*, Rotateq*  Developmental Screening: ASQ

9 months - Hep B Developmental Screening: ASQ

12 months - MMR, Prevnar*, Hep A* Developmental Screening: ASQ

15 months - Hib, Varivax  Developmental Screening: ASQ

18 months - DTaP, Hep A*  Developmental Screening: ASQ

24 months - Check growth/development Developmental Screening: ASQ

30 months - Check growth/development  Developmental Screening: ASQ

3 years - Check growth/development  Developmental Screening: ASQ

4-5 years - Quadracel, ProQuad Developmental Screening: ASQ 4yr / Developmental Screening: ASQ 5yr

11-12 years - Tdap, Menactra, Gardasil* 

14 year - Check growth/development 

16 year - Menactra

Pentacel: DTaP/Hib/IPV combined into one shot. ProQuad: Varivax/MMR combined into one shot.

Quadracel: DTaP/IPV combined into one shot. 

* Strongly recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics but not required by the State of Illinois for school attendance.

Vaccines Used by Our Office

Hep B - Protects against Hepatitis B

DTaP - Protects against Diphtheria/Tetanus and Pertussis

Hib - Protects again Haemophilus influenza type B

IPV - Protects against Polio

Prevnar - Protects against Pneumococcus

Rotateq - Protects against Rotavirus

HepA  - Protects against Hepatitis A

MMR - Protects against Measles/Mumps and Rubella

Varivax - Protects against Chickenpox

Tdap - Protects against Tetanus/Diphtheria and Pertussis

Menactra - Protects against Meningococcus

Gardasil - Protects against Human Papilloma Virus

Description of Diseases the Vaccines Prevent

Hepatitis B: is a virus that affects the liver. It may present with non-specific symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, or yellowing of the eyes or skin. It could also lead to ongoing liver disease such as cancer. It is spread through infected blood and body fluids.

Diphtheria: This bacteria most commonly leads to throat infections. Infections caused by Diptheria can cause a thick membrane to develop on the back of the throat that can cause difficulty breathing.

Tetanus (lockjaw): this bacteria may cause severe generalized muscle spasms. Tetanus bacteria enters the body through a cut or wound.

Pertussis (whooping cough): this bacteria begins with mild upper respiratory symptoms and progresses to violent episodes of coughing characterized by an inspiratory whoop and commonly followed by vomiting.

Haemophilus influenza type B: this bacteria causes pneumonia, meningitis, and infections of the blood, epiglottis, joints, skin, ears, and heart.

Polio: this virus may lead to a rapid onset of one-sided paralysis.

Pneumococcus: this bacteria may cause ear infections and invasive bacterial infections. It is a common cause of sinusitis, pneumonia, and eye infections.

Rotavirus: This virus causes non-bloody diarrhea often accompanied by vomiting and fever. This can lead to dehydration.

Hepatitis A:  This virus affects the liver producing symptoms such as fever, malaise, anorexia, and yellow eyes or skin. It is spread by putting infected objects such as contaminated food or water in the mouth.

Measles: This virus causes a disease characterized by fever, cough, coryza, eye inflammation, and rash.

Mumps:  This virus causes swelling of the glands near the jaw. Symptoms include fever, headache, and muscle ache. Mumps may lead to swelling around the brain, pancreas, testicles, or ovaries. It can also lead to hearing loss.

Rubella:  This virus produces a rash, swollen glands, and fever. Infection during pregnancy may result in miscarriage or fetal birth defects.

Chickenpox: This virus produces a blistery, itchy rash, and mild fever. Complications include bacterial superinfection of skin lesions, pneumonia, and central nervous system involvement.

Meningococcus: this bacteria leads to blood infections and/or meningitis. The progression of the disease is rapid and can cause death if not treated immediately.

Human Papillomavirus: this virus can produce benign warts of the skin. Certain types of the HPV virus can cause cervical and genital cancers.