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Vaccines for your child

By Aponjon Content team

How is your baby doing? Hope he is healthy and growing well. May be you have already given him a dose or two of vaccines. It is important that your baby gets the required vaccines on time. This will protect him from many life-threatening diseases.

Some vaccines are made available by the government free of cost while others are available for a cost in both private and government hospitals.

What are the vaccines?

The EPI vaccines:

The most important childhood vaccines are made available by the government free of cost under the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). These vaccines are considered compulsory. You can get these vaccines at any government hospitals, upazilla health complexes or union health centers. Even the private hospitals who provide vaccination service lets you avail these vaccines for free.

These vaccines cover immunization against almost all the major diseases endemic in Bangladesh that are preventable by vaccines. By availing these vaccines under the EPI program, you can save as much as Tk. 15 thousand for the purpose of vaccination of your baby. The EPI vaccines are –

1. BCG

2. Pentavalent vaccine (DPT, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza-B)

3. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)

4. Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)

5. Measles & Rubella (MR) vaccine

6. Measles vaccine

Non-EPI vaccines:

The following vaccines are not covered by the EPI program. These vaccines are considered optional.

1. Rotavirus

2. Chickenpox/Varicella

3. Hepatitis A

4. Typhoid

5. Meningococcal-C Conjugate

6. Influenza

You may opt for giving these vaccines to your baby for additional protection from some other diseases.

However, these vaccines are not free of cost and these may not be available in the government hospitals.

How many doses and when?

If your baby hasn't been fully vaccinated against an illness, he is not as protected as he could be. Your baby may need several doses of the same vaccine to protect him effectively against each of these diseases. So it is important to follow your child's immunization schedule.

EPI Vaccines:

The schedule for EPI vaccines is as follows:

Vaccine	Total Number of Doses	Recommend Ages of Doses
BCG	1	From after birth
Pentavalent vaccine	3	6, 10, 14 weeks
PCV	3	6, 10, 14 weeks
OPV (Polio)	4	6, 10, 14 weeks, 9 months
MR vaccine	1	9 months
Measles	1	15 months

 

Non-EPI vaccines:

The non EPI vaccines can be given according to the following schedule:

Vaccine	Total Number of Doses	Recommend Ages of Doses
Rotavirus	2	2, 4 months
Chickenpox/Varicella	2	12-15 months, 4-5 years
Hepatitis A	2	12, 18 months
Typhoid	1	24 months, booster every 2 years
Meningococcal-C Conjugate	1	12 months
Influenza	1	Annual, 2 doses for first year if < 8 years of age

 

Why it is important to get your baby vaccinated?

Childhood immunizations protect your baby from potentially serious illnesses at the start of his life.

If your child is immunized against an illness, the chances of getting that illness are reduced to a great extent as your child's body has already made antibodies against it.

Vaccine	Diseases prevented
BCG	Tuberculosis
Pentavalent vaccine	Diphtheria Pertussis (Whooping cough) Haemophilus influenzae type b
PCV	Pneumococcal disease
OPV (Polio)	Poliomyelitis (Polio)
MR vaccine	Measles Rubella
Measles	Measles
Rotavirus	Rotavirus
Chickenpox/Varicella	Varicella (Chickenpox)
Hepatitis A	Hepatitis A
Typhoid	Typhoid fever
Meningococcal-C Conjugate	Meningococcal meningitis
Influenza	Influenza (Seasonal flu)

 

Are vaccinations safe?

Experts agree that immunizations are safe for your child. All vaccines are thoroughly tested before being licensed for use.

Immunizations given by injection are likely to upset babies and young children, making them irritable. Nursing your baby soon after the shot can help her calm down. Try giving lots of her favorite toys and play with her to distract her from the pain.

There will often be redness and swelling around the injection site. Your baby might develop a mild fever.Usually this is nothing to be worried about. However, you should see your doctor if she develops very high temperature or a febrile convulsion.