Diphtheria vaccination

The most effective way of preventing diphtheria is to ensure all of your vaccinations are up-to-date. Vaccinations for diphtheria are part of the routine NHS childhood vaccination schedule . In total, children should receive five doses of the diphtheria vaccination. It's usually combined with other vaccines. For most people, five doses provides a good level of protection against diphtheria for the rest of their life. Babies All babies are offered vaccination against diphtheria as part of the 5-in-1 vaccine that's given when they're eight,12 and 16 weeks old. The 5-in-1 vaccine, also known as the DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccine, protects against: Tetanus whooping cough polio Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) Pre-school children A booster vaccine against diphtheria is given as part of the 4-in-1pre-school booster (also called the DTaP/IPV vaccine) to children who are three years and four months old. The 4-in-1 vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio. Teenagers A final booster dose of the diphtheria vaccine is given as part of the 3-in-1 teenage booster (also called the Td/IPV vaccine) to teenagers when they're 14 years old. The 3-in-1 vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus and polio. Ask at your GP surgery if you're not sure whether your family's vaccinations are up-to-date. Travel vaccination against diphtheria Further booster diphtheria vaccinations may be required if you're going to live or work in parts of the world where diphtheria is widespread. You should have a booster dose if your last dose was more than 10 years ago. Regions known to have high rates of diphtheria include: India Nepal Bangladesh Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Laos Papua New Guinea sub-Saharan Africa (particularly Nigeria) Brazil Iraq Afghanistan However, the areas that are considered to be high-risk for any disease can change. For up-to-date travel information, you can check: NHS fitfortravel National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC)