It's normal to see children kicking and screaming in a clinic when they're up for a vaccine appointment, but in the long run that little prickly ache on the shoulder is nothing compared to the illnesses that a shot can kill.
At a recent seminar on vaccination hosted by Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), Dr. Marimel Reyes-Pagcatipunan highlighted the achievements of vaccines--most notably the eradication of smallpox, the elimination of polio in the Western Hemisphere, and the control on measles in the Americas. Thanks to vaccines, about 400 million life years have been saved, and about 750,000 children saved from disability.
"Vaccines are the most effective interventions in reducing and preventing the return of infectious diseases," Dr. Pagcatipunan said.
The question is, would you still be qualified for vaccines if you're an adult with incomplete vaccination records?
Dr. Pagcatipunan said that there is no age limit for getting vaccines, although it's still best to get vaccines as a child so as to prevent common illnesses like chickenpox, which can result in deaths, most specifically for adults who encounter it later in life. Dr. Anna Lisa Ong-Lim, also a member of the Philippine Pediatric Society, goes on to further explain that chickenpox can be very dangerous for pregnant women, since the disease can result in abnormalities for the infant.
"Childbearing moms who contract chickenpox in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy might give birth to babies with low birth weight, skin scars, hypoplasia of an extremity, and encephalitis," she said.
'There is no age limit for getting vaccines, although it's still best to get vaccines as a child so as to prevent common illnesses'
Thankfully, those who have contracted chickenpox at an early age or have received anti-chickenpox vaccination can live without fear of contracting the disease again. However, Dr. Lim stressed that contact with inflicted people should be kept to a minimum, since it could easily affect other people who are not yet immune to the disease. Chickenpox can be easily transmitted through the saliva even from a distance of three feet, and physical contact with the vesicles.
As of today, the vaccine-preventable diseases include influenza, hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever, chickenpox, measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, meningococcemia, and pneumonia. Recently, GSK has come up with a vaccine against cervical cancer as well.
As the old saying goes, prevention is still better than cure, so it's never too late to get the vaccines you need against such diseases. "It's even more painful to die from a disease that could have been easily cured by vaccines," Dr. Lim concluded.
Photo courtesy of the National Cancer Institute
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