Question: How many vaccines would you have in a regular lifetime?

Sarah Burl answered on 14 Jun 2010:

This is a great question but it is difficult to answer. Each country has different guidelines about vaccines depending on a number of issues e.g. risk of getting the disease, cost of vaccine, new vaccines that become available etc. The government also changes its mind as to what it thinks is important from one year to the next. Some vaccines are given as one dose and others are given as several doses as one dose is not enough. In The Gambia children are given 16 doses of 7 vaccines within the first 18 months of life. One of the vaccines containes 5 vaccines in one (Diptheria, Haemophilus Influenza B, tetanus, hepatitis B, pertussis (whooping cough)). In the UK children up to 12 months of age get 8 doses of vaccines so half of what is given in The Gambia. The total number of doses of vacines given in a lifetime in the UK would be 16 including the combination vaccines. The total number of diseases vaccinated against in a lifetime is 12. There are some vaccines that are given to high risk people/areas like BCG which is against TB. In The Gambia BCG is given at birth as TB is more common in The Gambia. Other vaccines that are given in The Gambia that are not given in the UK include yellow fever and Hepatitis B.