IMMUNIZATION

From experience in the USA, serious reactions with measles vaccine is extremely rare (about 1 in a million doses of the vaccine). This compares favourably with the 1 in 1000 serious complications with natural measles.

Diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, mumps, German measles and poliomyelitis have all been brought under control by immunisation and it is now rare to see the life threatening effects of these diseases. It is difficult for modern parents who have their children immunised to imagine the worry and sadness that the parents in the pre-immunisation and pre-antibiotic era had to endure with regard to childhood infections and their life-threatening complications.

In Australia, rarely, if ever do we see the paralytic effects of poliomyelitis or childhood as a common result of measles, the pneumonia, the encephalitis and even death associated in the old days with this infectious disease. We are spared the problems in pregnancy of the young mother suffering from the rubella and the cerebral haemorrhage, convulsions and brain damage associated with whooping cough.

Sensitivity to eggs, chicken or chicken feathers produce allergic reactions with certain vaccines. Any known sensitivities or illnesses should be brought to your doctor’s attention so that the benefits and potential risks can be discussed.

Pregnant women should not be given German measles vaccine nor measles/mumps vaccine.

If your child has suffered from a cerebral disorder in the first months of life, epilepsy, fits or convulsions, then you should discuss with your doctor the suitability of immunisation.

Children with acute illnesses or respiratory infections should not be immunised until they have recovered. If a severe reaction occurs after the first dose of any vaccine, then further doses of vaccine, particularly whooping cough in the young child, have to be reduced or stopped.

You should always draw your doctor’s attention to any reactions, mild or otherwise, so that the need for continuing on with a particular vaccine can be discussed.

IMMUNIZATION TIMETABLE CHILD AGE VACCINATION

2 months Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Polio Haemophilus Influenza Type B

4 months Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Polio Haemophilus Influenza Type B

6 months Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Polio Haemophilus Influenza Type B

12 months Measles, Mumps, Rubella

18 months Diphtheria, Tetanus, Haemophilus Influenza Type B

PRE-SCHOOL Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Polio

12-13 YEARS Measles, Mumps, Rubella (girls) Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio