2006
Content Provided by: Judy Schmidt
This photograph shows an infant held by his mother, receiving an intramuscular vaccination in the thigh.
Vaccinations are most often given to optimize the immune response of the vaccine and reduce the adverse reactions in and around the injection site. Infants and young children should be vaccinated in the anterolateral aspect of the thigh. It is a healthy well developed muscular area and has a low risk of neural, vascular and tissue injury making it the safest site of injection.
Photo by CDC/ Jim Gathany http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp