World Immunisation Week - Vaccines & Diseases
Every April, World Immunisation Week highlights the importance of vaccines and how they protect people of all ages from a wide range of diseases. The 2022 theme "Long Life for All" aims to unite people with the idea that vaccines help make it possible to everyone to pursue a life well-lived.
Nowadays, we do not see any cases of smallpox now because people then decided that they need to end the disease by vaccination and that was the death of smallpox. The same is true today. Ever since the COVID-19 vaccination was developed, the COVID-19 cases have significantly reduced. The general concept of vaccination is to provide immunity against a disease. Therefore, immunisation is, without a doubt, the most effective preventive health measure.
Here is a simple diagram of how vaccines work:
Modified Image by British Society for Immunology
Besides COVID-19, what are the other diseases that vaccines can prevent?
|
Vaccines |
Diseases that vaccines prevent |
|---|---|
|
Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) |
|
|
Tetanus (TT) |
Tetanus (known as lockjaw) A serious bacterial infection that causes muscle contractions, particularly in the jaw and neck muscles, makes it hard to open the mouth or swallow, and some have breathing difficulties. |
|
Diphtheria and Tetanus (DT) |
A serious bacterial infection involves the nose and throat that can lead to difficulty in breathing, heart problems, and paralysis.
|
|
Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) |
Haemophilus influenza type B A type of bacteria that can lead to potentially deadly brain infection in young children. |
|
Poliomyelitis A viral infection that affects a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis. |
|
|
Hepatitis B (HepB) |
Hepatitis B A viral infection that attacks the liver. |
|
Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis- Haemophilus influenza type B-Hepatitis B-Poliomyelitis (DTaP-Hib-HepB-IPV) |
|
|
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) |
Cervical cancer Read about The Success Story of Vaccines: HPV and Cervical Cancer |
|
Influenza |
Influenza, commonly known as flu A viral infection that attacks the respiratory system. |
|
Live attenuated Japanese encephalitis vaccine (JE-lived) (Only in Sarawak) |
Japanese encephalitis A viral brain infection that is spread through mosquito bites |
|
Measles (Only in Sabah) |
Measles A viral respiratory infection. Read about The Success Story of Vaccines: Measles |
|
Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) |
A viral infection that primarily affects saliva-producing (salivary) glands that are located near your ears., leading to puffy cheeks, and tender swollen jaw.
A viral infection that affects skin and lymph nodes. |
|
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine |
Pneumococcal diseases are any illness caused by pneumococcal bacteria, which include lung infection (pneumonia), brain infection (meningitis) and bloodstream infection. |
|
Typhoid |
Typhoid fever A bacterial infection that causes food poisoning, and can spread throughout the body, affecting many organs. |
Read about vaccines for pregnant women.
Vaccination not only protects the vaccinated individuals and also reduces the risk of diseases spreading among family members, schoolmates or colleagues, friends, neighbours and other people in the community. In other words, if lots of people are vaccinated, then the disease can’t spread very far therefore the whole community stays safe. This is known as 'herd immunity'
Timeline for vaccination from birth
The general timeline ranges from birth up to 13 years old, but vaccines can still be administered a booster dose after the ages mentioned depending on the type of protection for at-risk groups such as the elderly, people with chronic conditions or have weakened immune systems and certain groups of people such as healthcare workers. A booster dose is an extra dose of vaccine that can increase or extend the effectiveness of the vaccine. Here is a general vaccination schedule for Malaysians.
Modified diagram from WHO
All in all
It is understood that some parents are naturally concerned about the administration of multiple vaccines at once, afraid it will interfere with one another or weaken the child's immune system. However. studies have shown that administration of several vaccines at one time is generally safe, and it is proven to work best to safely and effectively build your child's immunity against many serious illnesses.
Having said that, as a general rule, sometimes, certain vaccines given in isolation or in combinations can cause fever. These side effects are temporary and do not cause any lasting damage to the child. In any case, do consult your doctor and talk through your questions and concerns.
#WorldImmunizationWeek2022
Medically reviewed by Ashwini Nair, MB BCh BAO.
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References:
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Organization W| WH. WHO | Immunization Country Profile. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://apps.who.int/immunization_monitoring/globalsummary/countries?countrycriteria%5Bcountry%5D%5B%5D=MYS&commit=OK
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Standard immunizations for children and adolescents: Overview - UpToDate. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/standard-immunizations-for-children-and-adolescents-overview?search=immunization%20schedule%20children&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~150&usage_type=default&display_rank=1
