We all know about the importance of car seats, baby gates, and other ways to keep babies safe but, did you know that one of the best ways to protect your children is to make sure they have all of their vaccinations?

For routine vaccines to be effective, children need to complete the required doses according to schedule at birth until they are one year old.

According to CDC, Fewer childhood vaccines have been given during the COVID 19 pandemic. To avoid outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and keep children protected vaccinations and well child visits are essential.

UNICEF has listed the importance of these vaccines and prevent the following diseases:

Vaccine: BCG  
Protection from Tuberculosis  

• Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection that most often attacks the lungs. In infants and young children, it affects other organs like the brain. A severe case could cause serious complications or death. TB is very difficult to treat when contracted, and treatment is lengthy and not always successful. According to the 2020 World Health Organization global TB report, the Philippines has the highest TB incidence rate in Asia, with 554 cases for every 100,000 Filipinos.

Vaccine: Hepatitis B 
Protection from Hepatitis B 

• Hepatitis B virus is a dangerous liver infection that, when caught as an infant, often shows no symptoms for decades. It can develop into cirrhosis and liver cancer later in life. Children less than 6 years old who become infected with the hepatitis B virus are the most likely to develop chronic infections.

Vaccine: Pentavalent vaccine
Protection from Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Influenza B and Hepatitis B  

• Diphtheria infects the throat and tonsils, making it hard for children to breathe and swallow. Severe cases can cause heart, kidney and/or nerve damage.
• Pertussis (whooping cough) causes coughing spells that can last for weeks. In some cases, it can lead to troubled breathing, pneumonia, and death.
• Tetanus causes very painful muscle contractions. It can cause children’s neck and jaw muscles to lock (lockjaw), making it hard for them to open their mouth, swallow, breastfeed or breathe. Even with treatment, tetanus is often fatal.
• Influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses which circulate in all parts of the world. Influenza can cause severe illness or death especially in people at high risk.
• 80–90% of infants infected with Hepatitis B during the first year of life most likely to develop chronic infections.

Vaccine: Oral Polio Vaccine and Inactivated polio vaccine
Protection from Poliovirus  

• Polio is a virus that paralyzes 1 in 200 people who get infected. Among those cases, 5 to 10 per cent die when their breathing muscles are paralyzed. There is no cure for polio once the paralysis sets in.

Vaccine: PCV
Protection from Pneumonia and Meningitis  

• Pneumococcal diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis are a common cause of sickness and death worldwide, especially among young children under 2 years old.

Vaccine: MMR
Protection from: Measles, Mumps and Rubella  

• Measles is a highly contagious disease with symptoms that include fever, runny nose, white spots in the back of the mouth and a rash. Serious cases can cause blindness, brain swelling and death.
• Mumps can cause headache, malaise, fever, and swollen salivary glands. Complications can include meningitis, swollen testicles and deafness.
• Rubella infection in children and adults is usually mild, but in pregnant women it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death or birth defects.

Prevention is really better than cure. To ensure your baby's immunization is up to date, we made a Routine Immunization Schedule, to guide you. 

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To learn more about this, just visit the nearest Keralty Clinic, or schedule a teleconsult today

• Appointments : https://www.keralty.com.ph/keralty-appointments
• Teleconsult : https://keralty.com.ph/keralty-tele-consult