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.

This document was published by the Canadian Paediatric society, 1997.

Posted by the Canadian Paediatric Society, July 1997.

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