Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 28, 1994                   TAG: 9406280053
SECTION: PARENT'S GUIDE                    PAGE: WPG11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DONNA MUSSELWHITE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IMMUNIZATIONS AN IMPORTANT PART OF BEING A HEALTHY KID

Beginning at birth, your child needs to receive regularly scheduled immunizations against such diseases as polio, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, mumps, Hib disease and hepatitis B. Contact your pediatrician, family doctor, or the Health Department for detailed information about your child's immunization needs.

According to the Roanoke Health Department, your child will need to receive an OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) four times: at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and between the ages of 4 and 6 years before he or she enters school.

The DTP immunization covers diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, and should be given five times during childhood: at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 months, and between the ages of 4 and 6 years, before entering school.

Adults should receive a booster for tetanus every 10 years. At 12 to 15 months, your child should receive an MMR immunization (measles, mumps and rubella). The immunization needs to be repeated between the ages of 4 and 6 years, before entering school.

The immunization for Hib disease should be given at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and from 12 to 15 months. The hepatitis B immunization is given to your child before he or she is discharged from the hospital, and should be repeated at 1-2 months, and again at 6-18 months.