Immunizations

General Information

• Routine vaccinations, except for live virus vaccines, are important to protect patients with compromised immune systems after transplant.

• It is recommended that transplant patients and their family members stay up to date on their regular immunization schedule.

• Most recipients resume their regular immunization schedule (except for live virus), like varicella and MMR, at 6 months after transplant.

• Exception: the flu shot may be given earlier, and it is best to consult your transplant team about receiving this vaccine

• When a sibling or family member receives a live virus vaccine (which transplant recipients cannot receive), caution should be used to avoid contact with body fluids from the person who received a live virus vaccine for at least 2 weeks (no drink sharing, good hand washing, etc.).

• It is recommended that family members receive their flu shot annually.

Common LIVE Vaccines that You Should be Up-to-Date on Before Transplant:

• Chickenpox (varicella)

• Smallpox

• Oral polio

• Rotavirus

• Measles/mumps/rubella (MMR)

• BCG (for TB)

• Cholera

• Yellow fever

• Typhoid (oral)

• Influenza drops into the nose (influenza nasal mist, FluMist).

Immunizations You Are Able To Receive (Refer to Infectious Disease or Transplant Team for Appropriate Dosing Schedule)

Vaccines:

• Injectable polio

• Hepatitis A (HAV)

• Hepatitis B (HBV)

• Tetanus/diphtheria or Tetanus/diphtheria/acellular pertussis (Td or DTaP)

• Flu shot (influenza injectable)

• Pneumococcal (both Pneumovax or Prevnar)

• Meningococcal Vaccine (MCV4)

• HIB Vaccine

• HPV Vaccine (Gardasil, papillomavirus)

• TB skin test (which is actually not an immunization but a test to see if your child was exposed to tuberculosis [TB]before)

• Typhoid (injectable)

• Rabies