Q: My 5 months old son has been given the first dose of DPT, HBV, OPV and HiB vaccines when he was one and a half months old and the second dose at two and a half months of age. Now the third dose was supposed to be given at three and a half months, but we moved to Dubai and here the doctors give these three vaccinations at two months interval rather than one month as in India. So they gave pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) when we went for the third dose of the vaccination. They said that the third dose of DPT, HBV, OPV, HiB would be given two more months after PCV that will be three months from the second dose. Is this interval of 4 months between the second and third dose fine? If not, how soon after the PCV can we give the third dose? Is it necessary to give all the three doses of DPT, HBV, OPV and HiB vaccine within the first six months only? Please advise.

A:It would be best if the missed dose was given one month after the PCV vaccine and ideally all of these should be completed before six months of age as per the epidemiology of diseases prevailing in India. If you and the child intend to stay in Dubai only, then it may be desirable to follow the local recommendations as per their disease epidemiology. The vaccination schedule does vary from country to country, depending upon variations in their disease epidemiology.