Immunisation And Young Children
In the first months of life, a baby might have some protection from infectious diseases that their mother has had or been immunised against. This is known as passive immunity. It occurs when antibodies are transferred from mother to baby during pregnancy. The level of antibody protection for the baby can be low and wears off quickly. This puts them at risk of diseases that can be prevented with vaccination.Most childhood immunisations are given as an injection in the arm or leg, except rotavirus vaccine, which is given by mouth. A vaccination dose may contain a vaccine against one specific disease, or several diseases. This is known as a combination injection, and it helps to reduce the number of injections your child needs.
Do Kids Even Need A Covid
Children are much less likely to get severely sick from the virus than adults, but some children have died or been hospitalized with COVID-19. The omicron wave was specifically impactful on children, leading to an increase in hospitalizations as the nation’s case count skyrocketed. State reports show that about 12.8 million kids have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
An infection, even a mild case, can disrupt a child’s ability to attend school or socialize, and kids can pass the infection to more-vulnerable family or community members. Kids can also experience dangerous complications from COVID-19, including long COVID and MIS-C.
“There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects,” the AAP said in a March report.
There are also racial disparities when it comes to how sick children get from COVID-19. Kids ages 5 to 11 who are Black, Native American or Hispanic are three times more likely than white children to be hospitalized with COVID-19, according to an FDA advisory panel presentation given when the delta variant was circulating. Of that group, about 1 in 3 required admission to an intensive care unit.
What Every Parent Should Know About Immunizations
Watching your child get a shot isn’t easy. It’s even harder if you have fears or concerns about the safety or necessity of the vaccine.
Millions of parents immunize their kids each year without concern. Yet some parents have heard rumors that vaccines can cause serious health problems.
So, how can parents get the facts about vaccine safety? Your child’s healthcare provider is your first source of reliable information. Healthcare providers are bound by law to give you written information on the benefits and risks of each vaccine suggested for your child. Reading this material can help you make a well-informed decision.
Another source of in-depth information on vaccine safety is the CDC.
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Where Can My Child Get Vaccinated
Your child can get vaccinated at your local health unit. Health units are also called public health units, community health centres, or primary care homes in some areas of BC. Some family doctors and nurse practitioners also give vaccines. Pharmacists can vaccinate children who are five years of age and older. Services vary across BC.
Its best to book your childs appointment well in advance as clinics book up quickly. This helps to ensure your child is vaccinated on time.
Eradication Of Diseases Through Vaccination
Eradication is the ultimate goal of vaccination against a disease.
On the way to the eradication of polio
Polio is targeted for global eradication. This has become possible through the polio vaccine that was developed in 1955. The WHO estimates that in 2015, 85% of infants around the world received three doses of polio vaccine. And the number of paralytic polio cases have since the 1980s, from an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 paralytic cases per year to 22 reported cases in 2017.
Eradication of smallpox
While the benefits might possibly be forgotten as vaccine-preventable diseases have lost their threat thanks to the introduction of the vaccines it is still true that people around the world including those in richer countries continue to benefit from vaccinations.
One of the greatest successes of global health is eradication of smallpox. Smallpox, which just decades ago killed several hundred thousand people every year was successfully eradicated in 1980 thanks to the global vaccination program.21
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Vaccines For Adolescents: A New Generation Of Vaccines
Adolescents, like adults, were recommended to get tetanus boosters every 10 years most requiring their first booster dose around age 11. Other than this, however, most adolescents did not require additional vaccines unless they missed one in childhood. By 2005, vaccines specifically recommended for adolescents were only recommended for sub-groups based on where they lived or medical conditions that they had. However, a new group of vaccines became available in the latter part of the decade.
- New vaccines: Tdap, 2005, meningococcal conjugate , HPV , meningococcal serogroup B vaccine
- Additional recommendations for existing vaccines: HPV , intranasal influenza vaccine
- New versions of existing vaccines: HPV
- Discontinuation of vaccine: intranasal influenza vaccine
2000
Pneumococcus
Rotavirus Vaccine Given At 2 And 4 Months
What is rotavirus?
Rotavirus is a common infection that causes vomiting and diarrhea in infants and children. Rotavirus is very contagious, spreading easily from children who are already infected to other infants, children and sometimes adults. Most children are infected with rotavirus at least once by five years of age. Serious but rare symptoms commonly seen in children less than two years of age include severe diarrhea, leading to hospitalization.
Rotavirus infection is a major cause of visits to health care providers and hospital stays for infants and children under five years of age in Ontario. Deaths in Ontario due to rotavirus are rare.
Some immunizations are required for children to attend school in Ontario. Please see the school immunization checklist for more information.
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Access To Family Assistance Payments And Childcare Immunisation Requirements
To access family assistance payments such as Family Tax Benefit and Child Care Subsidies children are required to be vaccinated against the diseases as per the age appropriate early childhood vaccination schedule.
Additionally, some states and territories may require a child to meet the immunisation requirements, or provide an immunisation record, to enrol in early education and care services.
Find more information: Immunisations for access to family assistance payments and early childhood services.
Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation
Talking about immunisation for parents Answering your questions so you have the information you need to make a decision for your family.
Types Of Side Effects
To understand the range of possible vaccination side effects events, it is useful to compare a vaccine with relatively few associated side effects, such as the vaccine for Haemophilus influenza type B, with a vaccine known to have many potential side effects, such as the infrequently used smallpox vaccine .
Haemophilus influenza type B is a bacterium that can cause serious infections, including meningitis, pneumonia, epiglottitis, and sepsis. The CDC recommends that children receive a series of Hib vaccinations starting when they are two months old.
Smallpox is a serious infection, fatal In 30% to 40% of cases, and caused by the Variola major or Variola minor virus. No wild smallpox cases have been reported since the 1970s. The World Health Organization has declared it eradicated.
The information below about side effects of Hib and smallpox vaccination is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Managing Fever After Immunisation
Common side effects following immunisation are usually mild and temporary . Specific treatment is not usually required.
There are a number of treatment options that can reduce the side effects of the vaccine including:
- giving extra fluids to drink and not overdressing if there is a fever
- although routine use of paracetamol after vaccination is not recommended, if pain or fever is present, or baby is crying and unsettled paracetamol can be given check the label for the correct dose or speak with your pharmacist .
Newborn Vaccines Your Baby Needs
Is your baby protected from vaccine-preventable diseases? Here’s the newborn vaccine schedule recommended by the CDC and AAP for your baby’s first months of life.
Your baby will be given a handful of vaccines and supplements in the first months of life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the carefully-planned childhood vaccine schedule. Following the schedule in the coming months and years will put your infant on track for life-long immunity to dangerous diseases.
The vaccines recommended for your young baby are closely monitored by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration for safety and effectiveness. Here are the vaccines that your baby will receive from birth through two months.
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My Child Has Allergies Can They Get The Vaccine
Yes, though you might be asked to stick around the waiting room so health care providers can monitor them for allergic reactions that can occur after any vaccination.
“If the child has a history of anaphylaxis or other severe allergies, then the observation time after the injection may be 30 minutes instead of 15,” said Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease specialist with Stanford Hospital and Clinics and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Children who have been prescribed an EpiPen for any reason should bring it to their vaccine appointment, Liu added.
As with adults, children with an allergy to an ingredient in Pfizer’s COVID-19 shouldn’t take it. You can find a list of ingredients in Pfizer’s vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 on the FDA’s fact sheet.
What Are The Side Effects Is The Covid Vaccine Safe For Kids
Vaccine side effects in kids ages 5 to 11 are mostly mild and similar to those adults may experience, according to the CDC, including soreness at the injection site, fever, muscle soreness, nausea and fatigue. In a Dec. 13 report from the agency, the CDC reviewed reports from safety monitoring systems on more than 8 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine given to kids ages 5 to 11, confirming that children’s immune systems respond well to the vaccine with common mild side effects, and that serious adverse events are rarely reported.
Inflammation of the heart muscle, known as myocarditis, and of the muscle’s outer lining, called pericarditis, are rare and typically mild side effects linked to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, mostly in adolescent males and young men ages 12 to 29.
In one study, the CDC said that 54 recipients out of a million males ages 12 to 17 experienced myocarditis following the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine. In contrast, kids ages 5 to 11 who catch COVID-19 have a higher risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, a potentially serious complication involving inflammation of the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or other organs.
“The bottom line is that getting COVID is much riskier to the heart than anything in this vaccine, no matter what age or sex you are,” Dr. Matthew Oster, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told the CDC in November as reported by ABC News.
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What Determines If Vaccinations Are Compulsory
Countries vary in whether vaccination is compulsory, mandatory , or voluntary. Navin and Largent provide a helpful distinction between these policies. A compulsory policy is when refusing vaccination is illegal, while mandatory vaccination when certain goods and services are limited for not vaccinating.28
Which policy is followed has depended much on historical legacy, which becomes clear when one considers some of the different regulations and their history around the world:
Compulsory vaccination: Many Eastern Bloc countries introduced compulsory vaccination during the communist era. Vaccination was previously compulsory in Romania for example and after a drop in vaccination rates the country is going through the process of reintroducing compulsory vaccination. The same is true for Italy and also France, which had compulsory vaccination for three diseases but increased this number to 11 in January 2018 in response to a drop in vaccination rates.
Voluntary vaccination: Some countries where vaccination is voluntary had early pushback against vaccination, as in the UK and the Netherlands. In 1853 a law was passed in England and Wales requiring universal vaccination against smallpox, but opposition from anti-vaccinationists led to laws being passed to allow for conscientious objection.31
Does it work to make vaccinations compulsory?
Vaccination coverage of children, by US state in 2016/1734
Community Immunity And Disease Prevention
The more people who are vaccinated in the community, the lower the risk of infection for those who:
- aren’t vaccinated
- developed only partial immunity from the vaccine
This means that when your child is vaccinated, you protect them as well as those around them.
Community immunity helps protect those at high risk of developing disease and severe complications or death, such as:
- adults 65 years of age and older
- infants and children too young to be fully vaccinated
- people with health conditions that affect their immune system, such as those undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer
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What Can Happen When A Child Isnt Immunised
Due to the high number of children receiving vaccinations in Northern Ireland over the past couple of decades, many serious childhood infectious diseases have disappeared altogether, like diphtheria, polio or tetanus or been dramatically reduced, such as measles and whooping cough.
In some countries it is more difficult to receive vaccines and as a result more people die from infectious diseases every year.
Unless vaccine uptake remains high in Northern Ireland, many of these serious infectious diseases will return from parts of the world where they still occur. If this happens, then children living in Northern Ireland that are not vaccinated will be at risk of these infections, their complications and even death.
If Your Child Can’t Be Vaccinated
Some children may not be able to get some vaccines, including those with:
- specific medical conditions
- severe allergic reactions to vaccine ingredients
Examples include children who need to take high-dose steroids or who have a weakened immune system from cancer treatment . These children may need to avoid vaccines that contain a weakened live virus, such as measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
These children are at risk of getting the disease that the vaccine would have prevented.
Talk to your health care provider or local public health authority if you have any concerns about your child’s health status and vaccines.
If your child can’t be vaccinated, you can help protect them by encouraging others to get vaccinated. This will help prevent the spread of disease to your child.
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Tetanus Toxoid Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid And Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Adsorbed
- Brand Names: Adacel and Boostrix
- What it’s for: Booster shot for kids at 10 or 11 years of age to prevent the bacterial infections diphtheria, tetanus , and pertussis . In addition, Boostrix is approved for all individuals 10 years of age and older, . Adacel is approved for use in people ages 10 through 64 years.
- Common side effects may include: Pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, headache, and tiredness.
- Tell your healthcare provider beforehand if: The child is moderately or severely ill, has had swelling of the brain within 7 days after a previous dose of pertussis vaccine, or any allergic reaction to any vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus or pertussis diseases.
Diseases With Vaccination Available
| meningitis | one injection |
From September 2019 the HPV vaccine will be offered to 12 to 13 year old boys and girls
Some babies in high-risk groups get a BCG vaccine for protection against tuberculosis when they are born. Higher risk infants might also get extra vaccinations against hepatitis B.
Your doctor or health visitor will give you more information if your child needs protection.
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Should I Be Worried About The Increasing Number Of Vaccines Recommended For Children
No. Because of advances in science and manufacturing, it is easier than in the past to be sure that vaccines are highly pure. Vaccines represent only a minor stimulation of the infant immune system compared to the large number of potentially dangerous bacteria and viruses babies routinely encounter: starting immediately after a baby is born thousands of different bacteria begin to live on the skin and the lining of the nose, throat, and intestines. The babys immune system rapidly launches immune responses to these bacteria that prevent them from invading the blood stream.
Measles Mumps And Rubella Vaccination
Routine vaccination
- 2-dose series at 1215 months, 46 years
- Dose 2 may be administered as early as 4 weeks after dose 1.
Catch-up vaccination
- Unvaccinated children and adolescents: 2-dose series at least 4 weeks apart
- The maximum age for use of MMRV is 12 years.
Special situations
International travel
- Infants age 611 months: 1 dose before departure revaccinate with 2-dose series at age 1215 months and dose 2 as early as 4 weeks later.
- Unvaccinated children age 12 months or older: 2-dose series at least 4 weeks apart before departure
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Diphtheria And Tetanus Toxoids And Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed
- Brand Names: Daptacel and Infanrix
- What it’s for: Prevents the bacterial diseases diphtheria, tetanus , and pertussis . This combination vaccine is given as a series in infants and children 6 weeks through 6 years of age, prior to their 7th birthday. The bacteria that cause diphtheria can infect the throat, causing a thick covering that can lead to problems with breathing, paralysis, or heart failure. Tetanus can cause painful tightening of the muscles, seizures, paralysis, and death. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, has the initial symptoms of runny nose, sneezing, and a mild cough, which may seem like a typical cold. Usually, the cough slowly becomes more severe. Eventually the patient may experience bouts of rapid coughing followed by the whooping sound that gives the disease its common name as they try to inhale. While the coughing fit is occurring, the patient may vomit or turn blue from lack of air. Patients gradually recover over weeks to months.
- Common side effects may include: Fever, drowsiness, fussiness/irritability, and redness, soreness, or swelling at the injection site.
- Tell your healthcare provider beforehand if: The child is moderately or severely ill, has had swelling of the brain within 7 days after a previous dose of vaccine, has a neurologic disorder such as epilepsy, or has had a severe allergic reaction to a previous shot.