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Sometimes vaccines for different diseases are combined into one vaccine in order to reduce the number of shots given at one time. These are called combination vaccines. They work as well as the individual vaccines and are considered safe. Doctors have used combination vaccines for more than 50 years.
Some combination vaccines are:
- DTaP (, tetanus, and whooping cough [pertussis]); for children less than 7 years old
- DTaP-HepB-IPV (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and polio)
- DTaP-Hib (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and Haemophilus influenzae, type b)
- MMR (measles, mumps, and German measles)
- Hib-HepB (Hib and hepatitis B)
- Hep A and B (hepatitis A and hepatitis B)
- Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough [pertussis]); for children 7 years or older and adults
Not all combination vaccines are approved for all age groups.
What’s the advantage?
Combination vaccines are good news for kids and parents. With combination vaccines, you get protection from disease, but with fewer shots. They may also reduce the pain and discomfort linked with getting many shots at one time. So you, or your child, may be less likely to miss a shot and more likely to get the shots on time.
Some parents may worry that combination vaccines could be too much for a small child’s immune system. But experts agree that a child’s immune system can easily handle several different vaccines at one time.
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