Common post-immunisation reactions
Handling the most common post-immunisation reactions is a necessary skill in childcare.
The wonderful gains of immunisation in reducing the world burden of many infectious diseases cannot be ignored.
As a result, Immunisation is important:
Immunisation is a proven tool for controlling and eliminating life-threatening infectious diseases and is estimated to avert between 2 and 3 million deaths each year. It is one of the most cost-effective health investments, with proven strategies that make it accessible to even the most hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations.-WHO
Here is what happens during immunisation:a person (child) is made ‘resistant’ to a disease/infection by taking a vaccine.
The vaccine is usually a small, denatured dose of the germ which causes the disease.
Thus, it will arouse a response in the body which protects it from future infection with the disease.
However, as the process of immunisation occurs, some children may develop ‘post-immunisation reactions’, the term given to the period of illness that may follow very soon after immunisations.
So, what should parents expect after routine immunisation for their children?
Fever is by far the commonest post-immunisation reaction, a distressed, unsettled child from pain or fever is not uncommon.
The graphic below shows this and a few symptoms with basic care that should be provided in simple cases.
Please contact a health care professional promptly if more serious concerns develop.
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