Vaccinations for children

Most childhood diseases such as measles and chickenpox can be cured without any consequences. In some cases, however, they can give rise to serious – and even life-threatening – accompanying illnesses such as pneumonia or encephalitis. And it’s not just children who can pick up these diseases, either; adults are also susceptible and actually suffer from them far worse. 

Live vaccines are made up of weakened pathogens that are no longer capable of causing a disease. Inactivated vaccines, on the other hand, contain pathogens that are no longer active yet still cause the immune system to respond. The vaccinations in use today are generally the inactivated variety.

Combination vaccines contain several pathogens for various infectious diseases and so counteract a number of diseases at the same time. They are particularly common for children so as to minimise the overall number of injections they have to sit through.

Instead of receiving three different injections for measles, mumps and rubella, for example, your child can have them all combined into one, which is followed up later with a single booster. Even the immune systems of very young children are well equipped to handle combination vaccines. Today’s vaccines also feature significantly lower doses of pathogens or antigens.

Most of the vaccines used today contain pathogens that have been made harmless and are used in tiny quantities. This means that the vaccine cannot trigger any diseases. For various reasons, vaccines contain traces of accompanying substances that cannot be left out. These accompanying substances serve primarily to deactivate viruses and minimise their longevity, or else prevent impurities from being produced. The adjuvants, as they’re known, are used in part to improve the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Today’s vaccines are well tolerated. Around a third of those vaccinated experience only redness or minor swelling around the injection site. This is a harmless reaction and shows that the body is reacting to the vaccine. Occasionally, in the first three days after the vaccination, general symptoms such as an increase in temperature or tiredness may occur, although these usually subside after one to three days. There are isolated instances of side effects such as headaches, body aches, nausea or allergic reactions being reported.

Today’s vaccinations are monitored extremely closely, and the chances of complications are very rare. Barely any vaccines now contain chicken protein; however, please speak to your doctor if you are aware of an allergy to this protein. Generally speaking, people with allergies should no longer have any issues with the vaccines available today.