10 Facts on Immunization

1. Immunization prevents between 2-3 million deaths every year:
Immunization prevents deaths every year in all age groups from diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), and measles. It is one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions.

2. More children than ever are being reached with immunization:
In 2010, an estimated 109 million children under the age of one were vaccinated with three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine. These children are protected against infectious diseases that can have serious consequences like illness, disability or death.

3. An estimated 19.3 million children under the age of one did not receive DTP3 vaccine:
Seventy percent of these children live in ten countries, and more than half of them live in WHO’s Africa and South-East Asia regions.

4. Over 1 million infants and young children die every year from pneumococcal disease and rotavirus diarrhoea. A large number of these deaths can be prevented through vaccination.

5. Public-private partnerships facilitate the development and introduction of vaccines:
For example, a new vaccine which prevents the primary cause of epidemic meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa, meningococcal A, MenAfriVac, was introduced in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger last year. At the end of 2011. Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria are vaccinating more than 22 million individuals with the vaccine which has the potential to eliminate the leading cause of meningitis epidemics in Africa.

6. The supply of influenza vaccines has been significantly expanded:
The expansion has been possible as a result of WHO supporting the efforts of vaccine manufacturers to produce and license influenza vaccines in 11 developing countries.

7. Global measles mortality has declined by 74%:
Global measles mortality has been reduced from an estimated 535 300 deaths in 2000 to 139 300 in 2010, thanks to intensified vaccination campaigns.

8. Polio cases have decreased by over 99%:
Since 1988, polio cases have decreased by over 99%, from an estimated 350 000 cases to 1352 reported cases in 2010. The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease. Only three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) – remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988.

9. Annual deaths from neonatal tetanus have fallen:
Neonatal tetanus deaths have declined to an estimated 59 000, down from 790 000 deaths in 1988.

10. Immunization provides an opportunity to deliver other life-saving measures:
Immunization not only protects children from vaccine-preventable diseases. It also serves as an opportunity to deliver other life-saving measures, such as vitamin A supplements to prevent malnutrition, insecticide-treated nets for protection against malaria and deworming medicine for intestinal worms. In addition, the benefits of immunization are increasingly being extended across the life course to include adolescents and adults, providing protection against life-threatening diseases such as influenza, meningitis, and cancers that occur in adulthood.

Protecting your child is Your first right. 

Decrease Death, Increase Life.

Do vaccinate your child.

Do Vaccines Work?

Vaccines are the best defense we have against serious, preventable, and sometimes deadly contagious diseases. Vaccines are some of the safest medical products available, but like any other medical product, there may be risks. Accurate information about the value of vaccines as well as their possible side-effects helps people to make informed decisions about vaccination.

How Well Do Vaccines Work?

Vaccines work really well. Of course, no medicine is perfect but most childhood vaccines produce immunity about 90 - 100% of the time.What about the argument made by some people that vaccines don’t work that well . . . that diseases would be going away on their own because of better hygiene or sanitation, even if there were no vaccines?That simply isn’t true.
Certainly, better hygiene and sanitation can help prevent the spread of disease, but the germs that cause disease will still be around. As long as germs still exist, they are they will continue to make people sick.All vaccines must be licensed (approved) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before being used in the United States.

A vaccine must go through extensive testing to show that it works and that it is safe before the FDA will approve it. Among these tests are clinical trials, which compare groups of people who get a vaccine with groups of people who get a "control" (e.g, either a different vaccine or placebo).  

A vaccine is approved only if FDA determines that it is safe and effective for its intended use. If you look at the history of any vaccine-preventable disease, you will virtually always see that the number of cases of disease starts to drop when a vaccine is licensed.

Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child

                                                     Importance of Vaccination

You want to do what is best for your children. You know about the importance of car seats, baby gates and other ways to keep them safe. But, did you know that one of the best ways to protect your children is to make sure they have all of their vaccinations? 

1. Immunizations can save your child’s life: Because of advances in medical science, your child can be protected against more diseases than ever before. Some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children, have been eliminated completely and others are close to extinction– primarily due to safe and effective vaccines.

2. Vaccination is very safe and effective: Vaccines are only given to children after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals. Vaccines will involve some discomfort and may cause pain, redness, or tenderness at the site of injection but this is minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent. Serious side effects following vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare. The disease-prevention benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children.

3. Immunization protects others you care about: Children in the U.S. still get vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2010 the U.S. had over 21,000 cases of whooping cough reported and 26 deaths, most in children younger than 6 months. Unfortunately, some babies are too young to be completely vaccinated and some people may not be able to receive certain vaccinations due to severe allergies, weakened immune systems from conditions like leukemia, or other reasons. To help keep them safe, it is important that you and your children who are able to get vaccinated are fully immunized.  This not only protects your family, but also helps prevent the spread of these diseases to your friends and loved ones.

4. Immunizations can save your family time and money: A child with a vaccine-preventable disease can be denied attendance at schools or child care facilities. Some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills or long-term disability care. In contrast, getting vaccinated against these diseases is a good investment and usually covered by insurance. The Vaccines for Children program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children from low-income families.

5. Immunization protects future generations: Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that killed or severely disabled people just a few generations ago. For example, smallpox vaccination eradicated that disease worldwide. Your children don’t have to get smallpox shots any more because the disease no longer exists. By vaccinating children against rubella (German measles), the risk that pregnant women will pass this virus on to their fetus or newborn has been dramatically decreased, and birth defects associated with that virus no longer are seen in the United States.

If we continue vaccinating now, and vaccinating completely, parents in the future may be able to trust that some diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the future. 

TB......Most Serious Disease

                                                               Tuberculosis (TB)

BCG, or bacille Calmette-Guerin, is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease. Many foreign-born persons have been BCG-vaccinated. BCG is used in many countries with a high prevalence of TB to prevent childhood tuberculous mening it is and miliary disease. However, BCG is not generally recommended for use in the United States because of the low risk of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the variable effectiveness of the vaccine against adult pulmonary TB, and the vaccine’s potential interference with tuberculin skin test reactivity. The BCG vaccine should be considered only for very select persons who meet specific criteria and in consultation with a TB expert.

Recommendations:

Children:
BCG vaccination should only be considered for children who have a negative tuberculin skin test and who are continually exposed, and cannot be separated from, adults who

Are untreated or ineffectively treated for TB disease (if the child cannot be given long-term treatment for infection); or

Have TB caused by strains resistant to isoniazid and rifampin.

Health Care Workers: 

1. BCG vaccination of health care workers should be considered on an individual basis in settings in which
2. A high percentage of TB patients are infected with M. tuberculosis strains resistant to both isoniazid and rifampin
3. There is ongoing transmission of such drug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains to health care workers and subsequent infection is likely; or
4. Comprehensive TB infection-control precautions have been implemented, but have not been successful.

Health care workers considered for BCG vaccination should be counseled regarding the risks and benefits associated with both BCG vaccination and treatment of Latent TB Infection (LTBI).

Contraindications:

Immuno suppression: BCG vaccination should not be given to persons who are immuno suppressed (e.g., persons who are HIV infected) or who are likely to become immuno compromised (e.g., persons who are candidates for organ transplant).

Pregnancy: BCG vaccination should not be given during pregnancy. Even though no harmful effects of BCG vaccination on the fetus have been observed, further studies are needed to prove its safety.

Testing for TB in BCG-Vaccinated Persons:

The tuberculin skin test (TST) and blood tests to detect TB infection are not contraindicated for persons who have been vaccinated with BCG.

1. Tuberculin Skin Test (TST): BCG vaccination may cause a false-positive reaction to the TST, which may complicate decisions about prescribing treatment. The presence or size of a TST reaction in persons who have been vaccinated with BCG does not predict whether BCG will provide any protection against TB disease. Furthermore, the size of a TST reaction in a BCG-vaccinated person is not a factor in determining whether the reaction is caused by LTBI or the prior BCG vaccination. (See below for specific guidance on skin test results.)

2. TB Blood Tests: Blood tests to detect TB infection, unlike the TST, are not affected by prior BCG vaccination and are less likely to give a false-positive result.

Treatment for LTBI in BCG-Vaccinated Persons:

Treatment of LTBI substantially reduces the risk that TB infection will progress to disease. Careful assessment to rule out the possibility of TB disease is necessary before treatment for LTBI is started. Evaluation of TST reactions in persons vaccinated with BCG should be interpreted using the same criteria for those not BCG-vaccinated. Persons in the following high-risk groups should be given treatment for LTBI if their reaction to the TST is at least 5 mm of in duration or they have a positive result using a TB blood test:
HIV-infected persons
Recent contacts to a TB case
Persons with fibrotic changes on chest radio graph consistent with old TB
Patients with organ transplants
Persons who are immuno suppressed for other reasons (e.g., taking the equivalent of >15 mg/day of prednisone for 1 month or longer, taking TNF-a antagonists)

In addition, persons in the following high-risk groups should be considered for treatment of LTBI if their reaction to the TST is at least 10 mm of in duration or they have a positive result using a TB blood test:

Recent arrivals (less than 5 years) from high-prevalence countries
Injection drug users
Residents and employees of high-risk congregate settings (e.g., correctional facilities, nursing homes, homeless shelters, hospitals, and other health care facilities)
Bacteriology laboratory personnel

Persons with clinical conditions that place them at high-risk for developing TB disease (e.g., diabetes)
Children less than 4 years of age, or children and adolescents exposed to adults in high-risk categories

Persons with no known risk factors for TB may be considered for treatment of LTBI if their reaction to the tuberculin test is at least 15 mm of induration or they have a positive result using a TB blood test. Targeted skin testing programs should only be conducted among high-risk groups. All testing activities should be accompanied by a plan for follow-up care for persons with TB infection or disease.

Whooping Cough or Pertussis

                                                  Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

Pertussis, a respiratory illness commonly known as whooping cough, is a very contagious disease caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. Pertussis is found only in humans and is spread from person to person. People with pertussis usually spread the disease by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in the pertussis bacteria.Many infants who get pertussis are infected by older siblings, parents or caregivers who might not even know they have the disease.

Symptoms:

Pertussis usually develop within seven to ten days after being exposed, but sometimes not for as long as six weeks.Pertussis causes severe coughing spells, vomiting, and disturbed sleep. It can lead to weight loss, incontinence, rib fractures and passing out from violent coughing. Although you are often exhausted after a coughing fit, you usually appear fairly well in-between. Coughing fits generally become more common and severe as the illness continues, and can occur more often at night. The illness can be milder (less severe) and the typical "whoop" absent in children, teens, and adults who have been vaccinated.

Who gets Pertussis (Whooping Cough)?

Everyone is at risk for pertussis, but it is most severe for babies; more than half of infants younger than one year of age who get the disease are hospitalized. Of infants who are hospitalized with pertussis, one in four get pneumonia (lung infection), one or two in a hundred will have convulsions, and one or two in a hundred will die.Up to five in 100 adolescents and adults with pertussis are hospitalized. Of those patients, up to two in 100are diagnosed with pneumonia.The most common complications in a study of adults with pertussis were:
Weight loss (33%)
Loss of bladder control (28%)
Passing out (6%)
Rib fractures from severe coughing (4%)

Vaccine:

DTaP

FOR INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Children should get five doses of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, one dose at each of the following ages:
2 months
4 months
6 months
15 through
18 months
4 through 6 years
DTaP vaccine may be given at the same visit as other vaccines.DTaP is not licensed for anyone over the age of six. Children older than six, adolescents, and adults may get a similar vaccine, Tdap.DTaP replaced an older version of the vaccine, called DTP.

Tdap

FOR PRE-TEENS, TEENS, AND ADULTS

Tdap is a tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccine given to adolescents and adults as a one-time shot, or after exposure to tetanus under some circumstances. This is in place of one of the Td shots you would get every ten years. Adolescents 11 through 18 years of age (preferably at age 11-12 years) and adults 19 or older – who did not receive Tdap in adolescence – should receive a single dose of Tdap. Tdap is especially important for those in close contact with infants.Tdap should also be given to 7 through 10 year olds who are not fully immunized against pertussis.Pregnant women should receive a dose of Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably at 27 through 36 weeks to maximize that amount of protective antibodies passed to the baby, but the vaccine can be safely given at any time during pregnancy.Tdap can be given no matter when Td (tetanus-diphtheria vaccine) was last received.

Are you using contaminated water or food?

                                                                          Typhoid

Typhoid (typhoid fever) is a serious disease. It is caused by bacteria called SalmonellaTyphi. Typhoid causes a high fever, weakness, stomach pains, headache, loss of appetite, and sometimes a rash. If it is not treated, it can kill up to 30 percent of people who get it.Some people who get typhoid become “carriers,” who can spread the disease to others.Generally, people get typhoid from contaminated food or water.

Typhoid strikes about 21 million people a year around the world and kills about 200,000.

Vaccine:

There are two vaccines to prevent typhoid. One is an inactivated (killed) vaccinegotten as a shot, and the other is live, attenuated (weakened) vaccine, which is taken orally (by mouth).Typhoid vaccine is recommended for:
Travelers to parts of the world where typhoid is common
(NOTE: typhoid vaccine is not 100 percent effective and is not a substitute for being careful about what you eat or drink.)
People in close contact with a typhoid carrier

Laboratory workers who work with Salmonella Typhi bacteria

INACTIVATED TYPHOID VACCINE (SHOT)

Should not be given to children younger than two years of age
One dose provides protection. It should be given at least two weeks before travel to allow the vaccine time to work.
A booster dose is needed every two years for people who remain at risk.

LIVE TYPHOID VACCINE (ORAL)

Should not be given to children younger than six years of age
Four doses, given two days apart, are needed for protection. The last dose should be given at least 1 week before travel to allow the vaccine time to work.
A booster dose is needed every five years for people who remain at risk.
Either vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines.

Soil can turns dangerous.......can leads to Tetanus

                                           Tetanus (Lockjaw)

Tetanus is an infection caused by bacteria. When the bacteria invade the body, they produce a toxin, or poison, that causes painful muscle contractions. Tetanus infection mainly affects the neck and abdomen. Tetanus is also called "lockjaw" because it often causes a person's neck and jaw muscles to lock, making it hard to open the mouth or swallow. It can also cause breathing problems, severe muscle spasms, seizures, and paralysis. Complete recovery can take months. If left untreated, tetanus can be fatal.Tetanus is different from other vaccine-preventable diseases in that it does not spread from person to person. The bacteria are usually found in soil, dust and manure and enter the body through breaks in the skin – usually cuts or puncture wounds.

Symptoms:

Early symptoms: Lockjaw, stiffness in the neck and abdomen, and difficulty swallowing.
Later symptoms: severe muscle spasms, generalized tonic seizure-like activity, severe autonomic nervous system disorders.

Vaccination:

DTaP or DT

FOR INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Children should get five doses of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellularpertussis (DTaP) vaccine, one dose at each of the following ages:
2 months
4 months
6 months
15 through 18 months
4 through 6 years of age

DT does not contain pertussis, and is used as a substitute for DTaP for children who cannot tolerate pertussis vaccine.DTaP vaccine may be given at the same visit as other vaccines.DTaP is not licensed for anyone over the age of six. Children older than six, adolescents, and adults may get a similar vaccine, Tdap or Td.

FOR ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS

Td is a tetanus-diphtheria vaccine given to adolescents and adults as a booster shot every ten years, or after an exposure to tetanus under some circumstances. Tdap is similar to Td but also containing protection against pertussis. Tdap should be given as a one-time booster in place of Td. Tdap is especially important for those in close contact with infants.

Adolescents 11 through 18 years of age (preferably at age 11-12 years) and adults 19 years of age and older should receive a single dose of Tdap.Tdap should also be given to 7- through 10-year-olds who are not fully immunized against pertussis.
Pregnant women should receive a dose of Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably at 27 through 36 weeks to maximize that amount of protective antibodies passed to the baby, but the vaccine can be safely given at any time during pregnancy.
New mothers who have never gotten Tdap should get a dose as soon as possible after delivery.Tdap can be given no matter when Td (tetanus-diphtheria vaccine) was last received.

Rubella can affect you, your child and your unborn baby

                                                                   Rubella

Rubella—also known as German measles or three-day measles—is an infectious viral disease.  But don't confuse rubella with measles, which is sometimes called rubeola. The two illnesses share similar features, including a characteristic red rash, but they are caused by different viruses.Rubella virus lives in the mucus in the nose and throat of infected persons. Rubella is usually spread to others through sneezing or coughing.

Symptoms:

In young children, rubella is usually mild, with few symptoms. They may have a mild rash, which  usually starts on the face and then spreads to the neck, chest, arms, and legs, and it lasts for about three days. A child with rubella might also have a slight fever or other symptoms like a cold.  

Adults are more likely to experience headache, pink eye, and general discomfort one to five days before the rash appears. Adults also tend to have more complications, including sore, swollen joints, and, less commonly, arthritis, especially in women. A brain infection called encephalitis is a rare, but serious, complication affecting adults with rubella.However, the most serious consequence from rubella infection is the harm it can cause to a pregnant woman's unborn baby.

Who gets Rubella?

Anyone can get rubella. Rubella infection during pregnancy, especially in the first 12 weeks, can lead to miscarriage, premature delivery, and serious birth defects, including heart problems, hearing and sight problems, cognitive impairment, and liver or spleen damage.Preventing rubella infection through vaccination is the best way to protect pregnant women’s unborn babies. Any woman who might become pregnant should be vaccinated, unless a blood test—an antibody titer—shows she is already immune to the disease.

Vaccination:

FOR INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Rubella vaccine is included in MMR, a combination vaccine that provides protection against three viral diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella.

The first dose at 12–15 months of age
The second dose before entering school, at 4–6 years of age

Immunizing your child on schedule is the best way to protect your child and others, including pregnant women and their unborn babies, from rubella infection.

FOR ADULTS

Anyone born during or after 1957 that has not had rubella or has not been vaccinated against the disease should receive at least one dose of MMR vaccine. The simple act of getting vaccinated against rubella may protect you and those around you from getting infected, and it may protect an unborn baby from death or serious birth defects.However, pregnant women should wait to get MMR vaccine until after they have given birth. Women should not become pregnant for 28 days following the receipt of the MMR vaccine or any of its components. (The combination MMRV vaccine is not licensed for those over 12 years old.)