By the time children reach the age of 18 they will have received at least 16 vaccines. It's far from the norm to not estimate tons of shots when you have a baby, but the federal government keeps adding to the current list. Some of the newest shots for children include Hepatitis A as well as a vaccine to guard against the rotavirus.

Public health officials agree with the development of the new vaccines. In their eyes it is a good way to minimize suffering or even death from contagious disease, as well as lowering the cost of healthcare that are associated with the illnesses.

The newest vaccines are not being widely accepted by the medical community however. Depending on the pediatrician or primary care physician that you take your child to for immunizations, they may not recommend the newer vaccines. Currently, the regular list of vaccines protect against: Chickenpox, Diptheria, Flu, Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), Hepatitis A and B, Measles, Meningitis, Mumps, Pertussis, Pneumonia, Polio, Rotavirus, Rubella, Tetanus, and HPV (the newest for girls only). Some of the vaccines are actually paired together in one shot in order to make it easier for children, such as MMR (measles, mumps, rubella).

The new Hepatitis A vaccine was released because of the steady increase of Hepatitis A nationwide. Just last year, students at Kent State University had to be vaccinated against Hepatitis A when a student that worked with food services was diagnosed with the disease. Normally Hepatitis A comes from poor hygiene, such as ingesting something (such as food) that is contaminated by the feces of a person that is infected. The infection can also be found in well water or even swimming pools if an infected individual contaminated either water source.

Hepatitis A is more prominent in Southwestern border states that have a higher immigration rate. The worst outcome of contracting Hepatitis A can be liver failure. Statistics for the disease show that one in five people that contract the disease have to be hospitalized while three to five of every 1,000 end up dying.

Specialists state that the Hepatitis A vaccine carries a low risk of problems and only costs around $50.00 for the 2-series shot when administered by the local Health Department. Still, doctors are split on the decision to recommend the vaccine unless patients are planning to travel to high incident areas of the world. In Ohio the incident rate is very low at five in 100,000, so the medical

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