What is Pneumococcal Disease?
This is a bacterial disease which commonly causes throat and ear infection. It can lead to serious invasive disease namely chest infection and meningitis in some patients.
What causes Pneumococcal Disease?
The organism responsible is Streptococcal pneumoniae or pneumococcus which lives in the lining of the nose and throat of many healthy people (namely carriers). The bacteria can spread by cough and direct contact.
What is the vaccine and how is it given?
The earlier vaccine is pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine PPV which contains 23 purified capsular antigens. The newer pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV contains 7 purified capsular polysaccharides each conjugated with a non-active diphtheria toxin to enhance the vaccine effectiveness. Polysaccharides are complex sugars present as part of the bacteria. The vaccine should be given by injection into the muscle.
PCV can be given at 2, 4, 6 months and the 4th dose between 12 to 15 months. Either PCV or PPV can be given to children aged 2 to 5 years old.
Who should receive the vaccine?
Parents may choose to vaccine their healthy infants. This vaccine is also recommended to those children with reduced host defenses including those whose spleen has been removed for a particular reason, for example in thalassaemia (chronic blood disorder) patients.
What is Rotavirus Infection?
This is a common gut infection in children less than 3 years old with symptoms of watery stools (diarrhoea), vomiting and fever. The fluid losses from diarrhoea and vomiting can be life-threatening if fluid replacement is delayed.
What causes the disease?
Rotavirus is one of the commonest organisms causing acute watery stools (or diarrhoea) and vomiting in young children. It is spread by the faecal oral route.
What is the vaccine and how is it given?
It is a live oral vaccine that contains 5 rotavirus types developed from human and bovine (cow) rotavirus strain. It does not interfere with the effectiveness of the OPV vaccination.
It does not cause intussusception which occurred as a side-effect in a previously licensed rotavirus vaccine derived from the monkey strain of rotavirus. Intussusception is a rare condition in young children where the gut blockage is due to the sliding of the intestine into itself due to gut movement.
The rotavirus vaccine is given orally in 3 doses at 2, 4, and 6 months and the 3rd dose should be given before 32 weeks or 7 months of age.
Who should receive the vaccine?
Parents may choose to vaccinate their young children against this disease.
What causes Hepatitis A?
This is one of the viruses causing liver infection (hepatitis) and it is spread by the faecal oral route.
What is the vaccine and how is it given?
The vaccine contains killed hepatitis virus and it is given by injection into the muscle. There are a few formulations available for children including one in combination with hepatitis B.
It can be given to children who are 12 months old, with the second dose given 6 months later.
Who should receive the vaccine?
Parents may choose to vaccinate their children especially if they are traveling to a place where the disease commonly occurs.
What is Influenza?
It is a very common virus infection causing infection of lining of the nose, throat and lungs. The symptoms include fever, runny nose and cough.
What causes the disease?
There are many numerous strains of the common flu viruses. The strain responsible for a particular flu season changes with subsequent outbreaks.
What is the vaccine and how is it given?
There are 2 types, namely the weakened live and the killed vaccine. Each vaccine contains three influenza strains that are likely to cause flu infection in that region for that year.
The killed flu vaccine can be given by injection into the muscle every year to children from 6 month to 5years old. The weakened virus can be given annually by nasal spray to children above 5 years old.
Who should receive the vaccine?
Parents may choose to vaccinate their children annually against flu.
- hmm, skrg nie mmg mcm2 penyakit senang singgah.. Amirah baru 3 bulan.. so risau btol dgn condition & persekitaran skrg.. rasenye elok amik sumer vaksin nie.. xpela, w'pon mahal gile utk satu suntikan... utk Amirah, mama & abah akan usahakan.... ;)
