Friday, August 26, 2011

Is It Mandatory Shots For B C G ?


Vaccination: BCG
Age: At birth
For: Prevention of tuberculosis
Worst case scenario if you don't get the shot: You can die from TB. It usually affects people whose immune system is compromised, mainly those with cancer and HIV.

“It will prevent to a large extent severe tuberculosis. That means tuberculosis of the blood and the brain. It will not prevent TB of the lung. We don't have anything better for it. It may to some extent help TB of the lung but in most cases, not.

“Some parents don't want to give their children the BCG jab simply because it leaves an ugly scar but I think it's important and TB is a big problem nowadays. It is estimated that almost a third of the world's population harbours the bacteria. It will be a problem when your immune defences are down. That's when it starts to flare up.

“In the past we used to vaccinate the BCG at birth and screen children at school entry and we used to give the second BCG vaccine when they were 12 years of age. We have stopped doing that. Now there is only one BCG vaccination for life. Sometimes for some children there is no scar formation. If we don't see a scar we repeat the BCG otherwise there's only one jab for life.”

Vaccination: Hepatitis B
Age: At birth, 1 month and 5 months
For: Prevention of Hepatitis B
Worst case scenario if you don't get the jab: You can get liver cancer.

“Hepatitis B is endemic in Malaysia. It is transmitted the same way that HIV is – via blood, sexual intercourse. It affects the liver so you get hepatitis, chronic liver damage and jaundice. 10% of carriers will end up with cancer at some point in their life. There's no cure for Hepatitis B.

“We routinely tell parents that if any of their family members – mum, dad or anyone else within the same household – has Hepatitis B, then after the routine vaccination, all the family members, plus the child, need to be checked to ensure they are protected against Hepatitis B. That's the only time we will check the blood. Otherwise, we won't bother checking the blood for Hepatitis B. We just assume they are protected against it.”

Vaccination: The triple (Diphtheria, tetanus and Pertussis) and polio
Age: 3-dose schedule (2-3 months, 3-4 months and 4-5 months) with booster shots given at 18 months-2 years and 5-7 years. In total, five shots.
For: To prevent against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio
Worst case scenario if you don't get the jab: Diphtheria and tetanus can be fatal. The child might have to be ventilated for pertussis. Polio can affect the lungs, heart and kidneys.

“These are all pre-war diseases. We still have them in Malaysia and throughout the world. People who get diphtheria are those who are not vaccinated against it. We can see it in our illegal immigrants or well-educated parents who oppose the idea of vaccination.

“Diphtheria basically is a bacteria which is soil-bound and it can go through your respiratory tract. It causes a membrane swelling to your throat and if it affects your wind pipe, it can actually block it up and you can die from that. It also releases a toxin into the blood which is harmful to your nerves and heart. It is a disease you can prevent but it's life-threatening.

“Tetanus is lockjaw. Again, you can get this from cuts, bruises and it is soil-bound. It causes muscle spasms, paralysis and seizures. So, it is something you can prevent as well.

“Pertussis is whooping cough. It's a problem in children who are not vaccinated. Children under two months who get pertussis can get it bad. They can end up in the ICU and needing to be ventilated. They cough and cough and cough until they stop breathing.

“The old name for it is the hundred-day cough or the three-month cough. Whatever we do, the child will cough for three months. The treatment for pertussis which is an antibiotic will only prevent pertussis from spreading to another child but once you've established pertussis you can't do anything about it.

“You can only treat and support the child while the coughing episode gets worse and typically that starts around the second week where the coughing gets worse and worse and lasts for about two to three weeks before it gets better.

“Polio is one disease we are trying to eradicate in the world. We used to give oral polio vaccine. I think in some government hospitals they still give the oral polio vaccine but in most private hospitals we give the injection.

“Oral polio vaccine is a live virus but a weakened virus. You can get polio from that. But the risk is very minute – one in a million chance. That's the disadvantage of oral polio vaccine. In the United States they only see vaccine-associated polio, they don't get wild polio. So that's why they have also changed theirs to injection polio vaccine from oral vaccine.”

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