Vaccinations for children: national calendar 2017

By law, parents themselves decide whether to vaccinate their children.or not. Of course, there is a national calendar – a vaccination plan drawn up by the Ministry of Health. But even it is not a decree for you. On the other hand, the child will have problems when entering a kindergarten or school. They also require a copy of the vaccination certificate in private educational institutions. Of course, you can defend your child's right to education even without vaccinations. But will you be able to protect him from those terrible diseases and their consequences that vaccination can prevent? Pediatrician Nikolai Komov:Chances of getting sick and getting complications hundreds of timesmore than the likelihood of complications after vaccinations. If you compare how many children die in car accidents, and children affected by vaccination - these figures are nearly disproportionate. However, no one says: “We will not carry the child in the car, because it is dangerous,” but they refuse to be vaccinated. Most vaccines are made in the first year of life - this is the most optimal period. A child who drinks mother's milk gets the necessary antibodies with him for up to 6 months. For six months, the protective properties of breast feeding are reduced. The antibodies in milk are much smaller. However, the child still does not go to kindergarten, does not contact with other children. Therefore, he does not get sick as often as, for example, children at the age of two. Many vaccinations can be given on the same day. So if the pediatrician has given permission, it is better not to stretch the vaccination and do it according to the plan drawn up by the Ministry of Health. If the child is susceptible to allergies, he has atopic dermatitis, the vaccine is given in remission. In addition, it is worth drinking a course of antihistamines for 3-7 days before vaccination and a few days after.Photo: Getty Images

What diseases are children vaccinated against according to the national calendar:

Hepatitis B - on the first day of life, then in 1Month and six months. Children from the risk group (born to mothers with hepatitis B) are vaccinated 4 times - on the first day of life, at one month, at two and then at one year. Tuberculosis - on the 3rd-7th day of life. Revaccination at 6-7 years. Pneumococcus - at 2 and 4.5 months. Revaccination at 15 months. Diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus - at 3, 4.5 and 6 months. Revaccination against three infections at one and a half years. Two repeat revaccinations against diphtheria and tetanus - at 6-7 and 14 years. Poliomyelitis - at 3, 4.5 and 6 months. Then three revaccinations: at 18, 20 months and at 14 years. Measles, rubella, mumps - at one year. Revaccination at 6 years. Vaccinations against these diseases are given in children's clinics for free. However, there are vaccines that are not included in the national calendar, but it would not be superfluous to do them either: 1. Vaccination against rotavirus infection. Having caught this disease, a person suffers from severe vomiting, diarrhea, has a high temperature, and dehydration occurs. Rotavirus is especially dangerous for a baby, because we cannot make him drink water, and he himself does not yet feel thirst. In the USA, the rotavirus vaccination is included in the national calendar. American researchers have already calculated that since the vaccine became mandatory, the hospitalization of children in the States from rotavirus has decreased to 90 percent. Of course, you can get sick with a vaccination, but not in such a severe form. The child will not be admitted to the hospital, where he can catch other bacteria, they will not put IVs, and they will not prescribe antibiotics. However, you need to vaccinate your baby against rotavirus before he turns six months old. Moreover, it is necessary to make three injections with an interval of one month. After six months, the child most often catches his first rotavirus infection, so the vaccine is useless. 2. Vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae. In the USA, England and Germany, vaccination against this disease is included in the national calendar. In our country, the vaccination is given only to risk groups: babies suffering from immunodeficiency, born to mothers with HIV, children with HIV, as well as children in orphanages. Meanwhile, the Haemophilus influenzae bacillus can result in purulent meningitis, pneumonia, arthritis, and also sepsis - a purulent lesion of the whole body. So immunity from this infection will not be superfluous. A baby under six months is given 3 injections. A child from 6 to 12 months - two vaccines. After a year, one vaccination is enough. The vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae can be given up to 5 years. However, you should not delay with it - for a baby under one year, the injection is especially relevant.Photo: Getty Images3.Vaccination against meningococcal infection. A disease that can cause complications such as deafness, epilepsy, paralysis, speech impairment, and mental retardation. Preschool children are particularly susceptible to serous meningitis. The vaccine is given once, starting at the age of one and a half years. 4. Vaccination against chickenpox. If a child gets chickenpox at preschool age, it is considered not to be a big deal. However, the disease has a very unpleasant complication – it damages not only the skin and mucous membranes, but also nerve cells. Chickenpox in young children is usually mild. But in one out of a hundred cases, a child develops a very serious complication – chickenpox encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. In older children – schoolchildren, teenagers, and also in, it is especially severe. The period of rashes lasts up to 2 weeks. The patient also suffers from severe itching, intoxication, inflammation of the mucous membranes, when even eating becomes a real torture. The same virus in adulthood causes shingles or herpes zoster - very painful rashes that will have to be treated for 3-4 weeks. In Europe, America and Japan, vaccination against chickenpox has been carried out since the 70s of the last century. There, vaccination is among the mandatory ones. Vaccination can be carried out from one year, twice with a break of 6 weeks. 5. Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis. If a family with children lives in the country or plans to go out into nature, to the forest in the summer, or even just walk in the parks, it is necessary to get vaccinated. In Russia, cases of tick-borne encephalitis among children are registered every year. The consequences are terrible: neurological, psychiatric complications and even death. The vaccination is done twice, and then every year you need to get a revaccination. Babies can be vaccinated from 1 year. 6. Vaccination against human papillomavirus. The vaccine against this disease is included in the national calendar of the USA, Great Britain and Germany. For a woman, the virus can result in cervical cancer. Therefore, the vaccine is given to teenage girls aged 13–14 before they begin to have sex. Flu vaccination. Everyone is susceptible to this virus, but children are in the high-risk group. In addition to serious complications (pneumonia, meningitis, encephalitis, liver damage and other diseases), flu often ends in death. Most deaths from the virus occur among children under 2 years old. So for a child who attends a nursery or kindergarten, such a vaccination is necessary. The flu vaccine can be given from 6 months. Children aged 6 months to 3 years who are being vaccinated for the first time are prescribed two injections with an interval of 1 month. Then the vaccination is given every year at least a month before the seasonal increase in the incidence of the disease.

For travelers

Before you buy a ticket to a foreign resort,consult a pediatrician about the vaccines you should not travel to a particular country without. Thus, you need to be vaccinated against polio, measles, rubella, and mumps when traveling to all southern countries. Of the vaccines that are not included in the national calendar: Hepatitis A vaccination. The vaccine should be given before traveling to countries in Africa (including Egypt and Tunisia), Asia (Turkey, Central Asia, India, and Southeast Asia, including islands), some countries in South America and the Caribbean. Children can be vaccinated from the age of one year. A second injection should be given after 6–18 months. Immunity after the first dose is formed within 2 weeks, so when planning a trip, get vaccinated in advance. Yellow fever vaccination. The vaccine against this disease is the only one that is included in the International Certificate and is required when traveling to a number of countries in Africa and South America. The vaccination can be given to children from 9 months and no later than 10 days before departure to endemic areas. Vaccination against typhoid fever. Outbreaks of the disease are registered annually in India, in the countries of South America, Africa and Asia. In 1-2 weeks the vaccine will create immunity against the infection. Children can be vaccinated from the age of three. Revaccinations are given every three years. Main