The 12 Childhood Vaccines

It is important to understand the details of how vaccines are made as you consider your child’s vaccination schedule. The various manufacturers use different techniques and ingredients. Some ingredients are more controversial than others, and this may affect your decision on what brand to ask your doctor for and in what order to get the vaccines.
The Vaccine Book compares the available brands and provides all the details you need to know, including:

• How each vaccine is made
• What the ingredients are
• Which ingredients are controversial
• What the possible side effects are
• How to decrease the possible side effects
• How to choose a brand that has the safest ingredient profile
• Which vaccines to avoid getting simultaneously
• How to get vaccinated in the safest possible manner
• Reasons why most parents choose to get each particular vaccine
• Reasons why some parents choose NOT to get a vaccine
• At what age is it safest and most important to get each particular vaccine

For a complete look at making an educated decision for your children, see The Vaccine Book. Here is a very brief overview of the various available brands.

HIB Vaccine

There are currently three brands of HIB vaccine to choose from:

• ActHib by Sanofi-Pasteur
• PedVaxHib by Merck
• Hiberix by GlaxoSmithKline

These vaccines contain only certain portions of the disease germ. There is no way to catch the actual infection from this vaccine.

Pneumococcal Vaccine

There is currently only one brand of Pc vaccine offered to children:

• Prevnar by Wyeth

This vaccine only contains portions of the Pc germ. There is no way to catch the actual infection from the vaccine.

DTaP Vaccine

There are currently three brands of DTaP vaccine to choose from:

• Infanrix by GlaxoSmithKline
• Tripedia by Sanofi-Pasteur
• Daptacel by Sanofi-Pasteur

There are also some variations of DTaP vaccine, such as plain tetanus and DT vaccines. These vaccines only contain portions of the germs. There is no way to catch the actual infection from the vaccines.

Hepatitis B Vaccine

There are currently two brands of Hep B vaccine to choose from:

• Recombivax HB by Merck
• Engerix B by GlaxoSmithKline

These vaccines contain only certain portions of the disease germ. There is no way to catch the actual infection from this vaccine.

Rotavirus Vaccine

There are two brands of Rota vaccine to choose from:

• Rotateq by Merck
• Rotarix by GlaxoSmithKline

These are oral liquid vaccines that are given by mouth. These vaccines contain whole, live rotavirus germs that are designed to create a low-grade rotavirus infection within the body to create immunity.

Polio

There is currently only one brand of Polio vaccine offered to children:

• IPOL by Sanofi-Pasteur

This vaccine contains whole, but killed, polio germs. There is no way to actually catch the polio disease from this shot.

MMR

There is currently only one brand of MMR vaccine offered to children:

• MMR II by Merck

This vaccine contains the living, but weakened, viruses and can cause a real case of the actual diseases.

Chickenpox

There is currently only one brand of Chickenpox vaccine offered to children:

• Varivax by Merck

This vaccine contains the living, but weakened, virus and can cause a mild case of the actual disease.

Hepatitis A

There are two brands of Hepatitis A vaccine to choose from:

• Vaqta by Merck
• Havrix by GlaxoSmithKline

These vaccines contain the whole, but killed, germs. There is no way to catch the actual infection from this shot.

Flu

There are several brands of flu vaccine to choose from:

• Fluzone
• Fluvirin
• FluLaval
• Fluarix
• Agriflu
• Afluria
• Flumist (live nasal spray)

The shots contain the whole, but killed, germs. There’s no way to catch the actual flu from the shot. The nasal spray contains live viruses that are designed to cause a mild infection to create immunity.

Meningococcal

There is currently two brands offered to children:

• Menactra by Sanofi-Pasteur
• Menveo by Novartis

This vaccine only contains portions of the Pc germ. There is no way to catch the actual infection from the vaccine.

HPV

There are two brands of HPV vaccine to choose from:

• Gardasil by Merck
• Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline

These vaccines contain only certain portions of the disease germ. There is no way to catch the actual infection from this vaccine.

Combination Vaccines

There are a variety of combo vaccines that come pre-mixed in order to decrease the number of injections. These include:

• Chickenpox and MMR – combined as ProQuad (Merck).
• DTaP, Hep B, and Polio – combined as Pediarix (GlaxoSmithKline).
• DTaP, HIB, and Polio – combined as Pentacel (Sanofi-Pasteur).
• HIB and Hep B – combined as Comvax (Merck).
• DTaP and HIB – combined as TriHibit (Sanofi-Pasteur).
• Hep A and Hep B – combined as Twinrix (GlaxoSmithKline).

These combo shots may seem like a nice way to save a few painful injections, but some of them have a less favorable ingredient profile than when the shots are given individually. See The Vaccine Book for more details on safely choosing combo shots.