Table 2.1 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Disease
Organism Vaccine Protects
Against
Target Population for
First
Dose†
Adenovirus Type 4 and type 7 adenovirus that
cause a respiratory illness similar to
influenza
Approved for military members ages
17–50 years only
Anthrax Bacillus anthracis bacterium that can
cause fever, shock, inflammation of
brain
Most military members and
overseas defense contractors; some
people who handle wool, meat, and
hides ages 18–65 years
Diphtheria Toxin of the bacterium
Corynebacterium diphtheriae that
causes a covering to form at the
back of the throat creating
breathing problems
Children starting age two months
Hepatitis A Hepatitis A virus that causes
permanent liver damage
Children between 12 and
23 months; travelers to Mexico,
Central and South America, Africa,
Asia and Eastern Europe; men who
have sex with men; people who use
injectable street drugs
Hepatitis B Hepatitis B virus that causes
permanent liver damage and liver
cancer
Newborns (can be infected at birth);
men who have sex with men; people
who use injectable street drugs
Haemophilus
Influenzae type b
(Hib)
Haemophilus influenzae type b that
causes bacterial meningitis
Children age two months
Human
papillomavirus
(HPV)
Multiple types of HPV that cause
genital warts and cervical, penile,
and anal cancer
Girls and boys starting between ages
9 and 11 years
Influenza Three or four strains of influenza
virus that cause fever and secondary
pneumonia. Composition of
vaccine changes annually
Every year for everyone over age six
months
Japanese
encephalitis
Japanese encephalitis Flavirus that
causes fever, seizures, coma
Travelers over age two months
spending one month or more in
rural Asia where the disease is
common
Measles (rubeola) Morbillivirus that causes fever, and
can cause seizures, brain damage
Children ages 12–15 months
Meningococcal
disease
Multiple types of Neisseria meningitidis
bacteria that cause meningitis
Young children and adolescents
(continued )
