A baby receives a jaundice vaccine (Photo: ShutterStock)
Every new and excited parent who attends a drop of milk with their newborn learns to know the vaccination routine - the series of vaccinations given from the moment the baby is born until the age of two, aimed at protecting the baby from life-threatening infections.
So what is that vaccination routine, what are the different vaccines given, and what is the most important thing for parents to know?
Let's start from the beginning: The Ministry of Health recommends vaccinations for toddlers and infants against 14 infectious pathogens. These vaccines are included in the basket of medicines, and are routinely given to infants and toddlers, and in fact constitute the routine vaccination given today in Israel that has been built over the years. It is important for parents to monitor vaccinations and make sure to receive them on time: close to birth (in the hospital) and up to two years (months 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24).
In the first year, the following vaccines are given:
Hepatitis B vaccine thateffectively prevents infection with this virus and its accompanying complications: chronic inflammation of the liver with danger of liver destruction and liver cancer.
A vaccine against the pertussis bacteriumthat prevents a disease manifested by severe coughing attacks to the point of stopping breathing, a vaccine against poliovirus, which we are currently witnessing a renewed outbreak,
which causes paralysis in children. This disease can be completely prevented through vaccination.
A pentavalent vaccinethat combines five vaccines in one injection designed to prevent the following diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae, and protection against polio. Another vaccine given is the Prebner vaccine against pneumococcus bacteria.
A combined vaccinegiven at the age of one year (and again at the age of 6) that effectively prevents the diseases caused by the four viruses:
the measles virusthat causes multi-systemic damage, severe brain infections, lung infections and prolonged immunosuppression; Mumps virusthat can cause encephalitis and impair fertility; rubella virusthat causes severe malformations in fetuses; The chickenpox virus, which causes an extensive bladder rash and is exposed to infection with a "carnivorous bacterium."
It is important to note and emphasize that safety is an uncompromising condition, and in accordance with the first rule of medicine "first do no harm", all vaccines offered as part of the vaccine basket have a proven high safety profile and effectiveness.
Bacteria (Photo: ShutterStock)
Despite impressive advances over the years in the ability to protect children from infectious diseases through vaccines, there are still a number of significant contaminants that can cause disease in children. Some of them do not yet have vaccines, and against others, such as the RSV virus, the vaccines are still in development and approval, or they are given only to at-risk populations.
One of the bacteria that the medical world has waited for many years for an effective vaccine against is the meningococcal B bacterium. This is a virulent bacterium that has not for nothing received the nickname "the pediatrician's nightmare" - the course of the disease begins with routine symptoms of routine fever, which within a few hours can develop a stormy infection, a blood infection leading to system collapse, and severe meningitis, with a real danger of irreversible brain damage, Disability and death. The suspicious signs of this infection are high fever accompanied by a rash that does not disappear with pressing. Other symptoms such as apathy or stiffness of the neck may appear at a stage when it is already too late to treat effectively.
The vaccine can be given to children of any age, but the recommendation of the Ministry of Health and the Association of Pediatricians is to give it to children under the age of 5, and especially under the age of two, since the younger the child, the less qualified his immune system is to cope with the infection.
The entire medical world breathed a sigh of relief when 10 years ago the vaccine against meningococcal B bacteria in children was approved. Today, after a decade in which the vaccine was given to children in routine vaccinations in countries such as Britain, Italy, Portugal and Spain, and tens of millions of doses of the vaccine were given to children around the world, we can state with certainty that the vaccine significantly reduces the chances of contracting the disease and is safe to use.
Side effects of the meningococcus vaccine, like other vaccines, may include fever and pain and swelling at the injection site. These are of course side effects that are not dangerous, but since they are relatively common, the Ministry of Health recommends giving the baby paracetamol to reduce fever."
Dr. Yoav Elkan is a pediatric infectious disease specialist
- health
- Parenting
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- Vaccines
- Children