Here I would like to share some basic information on what I found about the compulsory 6-in-1 vaccine & 2 optional Rotavirus & Pneumococcal vaccines that were required in the early age for my baby.
Our baby needs to undergo a series of immunization schedule, which may requires as many as 20 shots within his 2 years of age. Therefore the advantage of having 6-in-1 vaccine is mainly to reduce the number of injections with lesser pain & swellings.
Q: What is 6-in-1 Vaccines?
A: An injection that shield against 6 common diseases with 1 injection.
Q: What are the types of diseases prevented by 6-in-1 vaccine?
A: 6-in-1 vaccine help to fight Diphteria, Tetanus & Pertussis (DTP), Poliomyelitis (Polio), Haemophilus Influenzae type B (Hib) & Hepatitis B.
1. Diptheria - can cause breathing problems, paralysis, heart failure & death.
2. Tetanus (lockjaw) - can cause locking of the jaw, preventing a victim from opening his mouth or swallowing. May leads to death in 1 out of 10 cases.
3. Pertussis (Whooping Cough) - can cause to pneumonia, seizures (jerking), brain damage & death.
4. Polio - can cause at any age mainly children under 3. Its a highly infectious viral disease that invades the nervous system & may cause paralysis & death.
5. Hib - usually strikes children under 5, causing a variety of diseases like meningtis (infection of the lining of the brain or spinal cord), bacteraemia (blood infection) pneumonia, joint & bone infections & other infections. There are 6 types of Hib, but type B causes the most of the illness caused by this bacterium.
6. Hepatitis B - can cause by Hepatitis B virus (HBV) that attacks the liver, causing lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring), of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, & death.
Q: What is Rotavirus?
A: It is a highly contagious virus that causes gastroenteritis (GE) that leads to abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting & fever among children especially between 6 months to 2 years of age. If these victims were left untreated, he/she may at risk of serious diseases, hospitalization due to dehydration (acute loss of fluid & electrolytes) & death.
Q: How is Rotavirus spread?
A: It spreads very easily. Highly infectious through hand-to-mouth contact after contaminated surface is touched. Unfortunately, by washing hands & keeping a clean home cannot protect our baby as common disinfectants & hand soap cannot kills it, & these viruses still can remain active on the hands for a few hours or on surfaces for more than 10 days.
Q: How can we prevent or treat Rotavirus infection?
A: There's no specific medicine or antiviral treatment for rotavirus infection. Victims were typically treated by replacing excessive lost of body fluids through drinking solutions that contains sugars & minerals or hospitalization, where the lost body fluids can be replaced directly though veins using an Intravenous (I.V.) line.
But there are still some preventive measures that can be taken like breastfeeding, regular disinfection of play areas, toys & frequent hand washing with effective agents. Whereas, the best prevention is to provide vaccination against rotavirus to our baby.
Q: What is Pneumococcal Virus (PCV)?
A: Infections caused by bacterium known as Streptococcus Pneumoniae or Pneumococcus, commonly occurs on children under 2 years of age. It may leads to Meningitis (causing serious & sometimes permanent disabilities to hearing, paralysis, mental retardation & death), Bacteraemia (where bacteria invades the bloodstream, causing infection of the blood, fever, irritability & rapid breathing & may also develop into meningitis), Pneumonia (causing infection of the lung) & Otitis media (middle ear infection like ear-ache, fever & frequent tugging of the ear).
Q: How is PCV spread?
A: Pnuemococcal bugs in the nose & throat of the carriers (healthy adults & children) that transmits from 1 to another through droplet that are released into the air by sneezing & coughing.
Q: How can we prevent or treat PCV infection?
A: Early diagnosis & vital treatment were given to the victims without any delay. Antibiotics were use in order to treat these diseases & it is very effective in most of the cases if treated in the early stage. However, there is still a small number of bacteria are resistant to some antibiotics, resulting longer periods for the victims to recover. PCV diseases can be prevented by a series of vaccination to our baby.
