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| A child being immunised |
A
few days ago, it was reported that a tenant who abducted his landlord’s
undergraduate daughter and fathered a child by her, has been arrested
and the young lady rescued.
However, the story has a sad ending
because the....
18-month-old baby of the union became deformed because the
father restricted the mother from taking her for vaccination. The
unnamed baby soon became infected with polio, sequel to which she was
paralysed.
The average person reading this might
pity the poor baby and blame the father, but many parents sometimes
neglect to obtain all the necessary immunisations for their babies. This
is dangerous, physicians warn.
Measles
For instance, a new study concludes that
children who receive their measles vaccination on time have a lower
risk of adverse events than those who do later than the recommended
period. In other words, babies must take their vaccines as at when due.
According to the study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics,
children who received their first dose of a measles-containing vaccine
at ages 12 months to 15 months as recommended by physicians, had a lower
risk of experiencing fever or seizures shortly after vaccination than
those who received the vaccine at ages 16 months to 23 months.
The findings “highlight the importance
of timely immunisation of children,” the researchers, from Kaiser
Permanente Vaccine Study Centre in Oakland, California, said.
Childhood tuberculosis
Parents can protect their babies from
this dreadful disease by making them take the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin
Vaccine, otherwise called BCG.
According to the World Health
Organisation, the deaths of more than 74,000 children due to
tuberculosis could be prevented each year if parents take the right
steps.
Also called paediatric TB, a physician,
Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie, notes that children with TB may die from
pneumonia or other diseases, hence the need for proper immunisation.
Hepatitis B
An expert in child health, Dr. Rotimi
Adesanya, says under normal circumstances, an infant receives the first
immunisation for this infection before leaving the hospital; and that if
the baby’s mother carries the hepatitis B virus, the baby receives the
first vaccine shortly after birth.
He warns, “The hepatitis B vaccine
protects against hepatitis B, a serious disease that damages the liver.
This vaccine is one of the recommended childhood immunisations, but many
adults also need to be vaccinated.”
He also says that since there are stages
to being immunised against this virus, the second injection is given
between one and two months of age; while the third dose is given at six
months of age.
Pneumonia
Paediatricians say pneumococcal disease
is a serious infection caused by a bacterium known as Streptococcus
pneumoniae. Rotimi warns that those infected can spread it primarily in
droplets from their nose or mouth when they breathe, cough, or sneeze,
hence the need to obtain necessary immunisation for babies who may be
more susceptible.
He says, “Depending on what organ or
part of the body is infected, in addition to causing pneumonia, in
children under the age of five, pneumococcal disease will cause any of
several serious illnesses, including bacterial meningitis (an infection
of the covering of the brain and spinal cord that can lead to confusion,
coma, and death, as well as other physical effects, such as blindness
or paralysis); bacteremia (a dangerous infection of the blood stream)
and sinus infections.
Lamenting that a major problem in very
young children is that the classic symptoms of meningitis and pneumonia
are often not present, making the disease hard to recognise, he says
that is why prevention is better than cure.
To save your child, obtain the
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine — PCV for short — which is the vaccine of
choice for young children.
Polio
While many parts of the world has been
rid of this devastating infection, Nigeria is still one of the few
countries that need to wipe it out.
The WHO says Polio (or poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children.
“The virus is transmitted through
contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine, from where
it can invade the nervous system. Many infected people have no
symptoms, but do excrete the virus in their faeces, hence transmitting
infection to others,” paediatricians warn.
Rotimi says initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
“In a small proportion of cases, the
disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. Polio can only be
prevented by immunisation,” the WHO says.
Others
Other childhood diseases that parents
must immunise their babies against include diphtheria — a bacterial
infection that mainly affects the nose and throat. Children under five
are hugely at risk, physicians say.
Rubella — also known as German measles —
is another viral infection to worry about, as it is caused by the
rubella virus, which is spread in much the same way as a cold or the
flu.
Physicians say rubella is spread through
droplets of moisture from the nose or throat of someone who is
infected. “These droplets are released into the air when someone coughs,
sneezes or talks,” they say.
-Solaade Ayo-Aderele/Punch
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