Is Administration Of Extra Doses Of DTAP And Pediarix Vaccine In Children A Serious Cause For Concern?

Posted on Tue, 6 Jan 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 6 Jan 2015 Answered on

Wed, 4 Feb 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, today my 3 year old son was administered the wrong vaccines. He was supposed to receive DTAP and Pediarix, but was instead administered DTAP and HEPB. We were informed that this mistake had been made and the staff management spoke with a pediatrician and said there would likely not be any adverse reaction. I am still uneasy about this and wondering if I should be more worried about this double dose that was mistakenly given of HepB? My son is only 3 so I worry that at his young age and low weight he is more at risk than an adult would be due to this mistake.

Answered by Dr. Eric Goldstein (31 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Vaccines

Detailed Answer:
Hello. I just read through your question.
no this is an unfortunate error on the part of your provider, there will not be any adverse reaction. receiving extra doses of a specific vaccine, is not harmful. Multiple doses of the vaccine can be received, without any issue. You have nothing to be overly concerned about. Just make sure that the provider is keeping track of which immunizations your child has received.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar