There is no evidence that side effects from vaccination are more common in younger infants.
The purpose of starting vaccination at 2 months of age is to protect the child against
pertussis and Haemophilus b disease as early in life as possible. Complications and deaths
from pertussis are most common in infants less than 6 months of age. And infants can
respond to vaccination at a very young age.
The combination product used in Canada containing diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, pertussis
vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine, and Haemophilus b vaccine minimizes the number of
injections given to each child. Giving several different vaccines at the same time does not
increase the rate of side effects. The protection achieved by the combined vaccine is as great
as giving the vaccines as separate injections.
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