Many healthcare providers and parents prefer to use combination vaccines (such as Pentacel) whenever possible in order to reduce the number of injections a child must receive. Using Pentacel instead of the individual vaccines reduces the number of injections that a baby receives by up to seven injections during the first two years of life.
Pentacel is typically given in a series of four injections, at the ages of 2, 4, 6, and 15 to 18 months. For children under one year of age, the vaccine is injected into a muscle (intramuscularly), usually in the thigh; in older children, the upper arm can be used.
(Click Pentacel for more information about this vaccine, including details on how it works, what side effects may occur, and what you should discuss with the healthcare provider before your child gets vaccinated.)
