Vaccination Delay Could put your children at RISK

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The below article stresses on the need to follow the vaccination schedule update and appeals to healthcare professionals and parents to strictly follow the same to achieve desired goals globally. Vaccination is the process of injecting usually killed or weakened microorganisms to increase protection against a particular disease. It is used to protect infants, toddlers, kids, children and adolescents from various diseases like Diptheria, tetanus, polio, rubella, Haemophilus influenza type b infections, measles, whooping cough, mumps. Measles, whooping cough, mumps still are threats to the life of children. Vaccination is part of a family and public health. It protects children from serious illness and complications of vaccine-preventable diseases which can include amputation of arm and legs, paralysis of limbs, hearing loss, convulsions, brain damage, and death. There have been some challenges in the process of vaccination. One of them is a delay in the vaccination process by parents as per the schedule defined by healthcare authorities.



According to BMC Public Health The proportion of children with vaccine delay was 5.4% at 2 months, 13.3% at 4 months, 23.1% at 6 months and 23.6% at 12 months. Overall, 72.5% of all 2-year-old children with an incomplete status by 24 months were attributable to a vaccine delay, of which 16.1% were attributable to a first vaccine delay at 2 months, 10.6% at 4 months, 14.0% at 6 months and 31.8% at 12 months. According to The Royal Society of tropical medicine & Hygiene presents below statistics from rural Tanzania: Delayed vaccination (>1 month after the recommended age) occurred in 398/1205 (33%) children for BCG, 404/1189 (34%) for DTP-1, 683/990 (69%) for DTP-3 and 296/643 (46%) for MCV-1. The parents find vaccination controversial and doctors recommend strictly follow the schedule for desired outcomes. The vaccination schedule is updated annually which aims to make clearer to doctors which children should receive which vaccine and when. The schedule has recommended vaccines from birth to age 18. It includes a catch-up schedule for children who have not received vaccines on time. According to Dr. Alex Kemper, chief of primary care pediatrics at Nationwide Children Hospital, said that sticking to the recommended schedule for vaccination is the best way to ensure that child is immune to diseases without getting sick. Further, a delay in vaccination could risk children to be infected by one of the diseases. There is no reason for the delay in vaccination until the child has medical reasons. "High rates of vaccination also protect others who are not vaccinated like infants who are too young to be vaccinated," added Kemper, he is also excited about the upcoming vaccine being developed like RSV which can cause lung infection and even death in children. The above points were agreed by Jennifer Burns, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and medical director of the pediatric and family travel clinic at the University of Chicago Medicine's Comer Children's Hospital. The vaccination schedule is well studied and provides the best protection for infants, children, adolescents and adults against vaccine-preventable diseases. The Immune effectiveness of the most vaccine is not age-dependent, except for HPV, noted by Jennifer Burns. Studies have shown that younger individuals who receive HPV have a better immune response compared with older individuals. Some alterations in the schedule include: Meningococcal serogroup ACWY: Guidance was added regarding adolescent revaccination for children who received the vaccine before the age of 10. Hepatitis A: Specifications reflect routine catch-up schedules. Hepatitis B: A special situation section was added with revaccination advice. Flu: The routine section was reformatted to outline the condition under which one or two doses of influenza vaccine are recommended. They also note situations when not to use live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV). Poliovirus: Information was added regarding which doses of trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (tOPV) may be counted as valid. Doses of OPV given on or after April 1, 2016, shouldn't be counted. DTap/Tdap: A Classification was added to focus on the Diptheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, which is for children having age under 7. A fifth dose was not necessary if the fourth dose was administered at the age of 4 or six months after the third dose. The booster, Tdap, is given at 7 to 10 years of age. Children who receive Tdap at 10 don't need to receive a Tdap dose at 11 or 12 years. Haemophilus influenza b (Hib): Catch-up vaccination is not recommended in children for 5 years who aren't at high risk. The schedule is updated annually. It was approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Family Physician, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.