Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 25 (Reporter Xiake) Vaccination is the most economical and effective means to prevent, control diseases and protect public health. Over the years, my country has insisted on implementing the immunization planning system, and the vaccination rate of the national immunization planning for children of appropriate age has continued to remain above 90%, and the prevention and control of infectious diseases has achieved remarkable results.

  April 25 is the National Children’s Vaccination Promotion Day. How does vaccines protect health? What should I do if the vaccine is missed? Can children with special health status be vaccinated? Let’s see what the experts say.

  On February 11, at the Changhong Community Health Service Center in Qingxiu District, Nanning City, Guangxi, medical staff vaccinated citizens with influenza vaccine. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Bo'an

  According to the national immunization program policy, the types of vaccines can be divided into immunization program vaccines and non-immunization program vaccines. Immunization Program vaccine, namely Class I vaccine, is provided free of charge by the government and needs to be vaccinated according to regulations. Non-immunization program vaccines, namely Class II vaccines, need to be vaccinated at your own expense, and parents voluntarily choose whether to vaccinate.

  Experts said that if Class I vaccine is not vaccinated, it may affect admission to a nursing home, school entrance, etc. The Class II vaccine that citizens receive at their own expense and voluntarily is an important supplement to the immunization program vaccine. It can not only prevent the occurrence of related diseases, but also control the spread and epidemic of related infectious diseases and provide more protection for children.

  Liang Aimin, chief physician of the Health Center of Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, introduced that the reason why vaccines can prevent infectious diseases is mainly to stimulate the body's immune system to produce specific immune responses, so that the body can gain resistance to specific pathogens. After normal humans are vaccinated, the immune system recognizes antigens and produces antibodies that "save" in the body. When the same bacteria or virus invade the body again, the produced antibodies can be killed through an immune response, thus preventing disease.

  Some parents are puzzled, why do they still get sick after getting vaccinated? Liang Aimin said that due to special reasons such as individual differences and immune response capabilities, the vaccine protection effect is less than 100%. A very small number of people may not have a protective effect after being vaccinated and may still get sick. In addition, after vaccination, the level of specific antibodies produced will gradually decline over time. When it is lower than the protection level, it may become infected and become ill. This is also an important reason why some vaccines need to be vaccinated multiple times and intensive vaccination.

  Some parents also believe that their children are currently healthy and are worried that there may be problems after vaccination. Can they not get vaccinated? Experts believe that not getting vaccinated may put children at higher risk of infection and more serious health risks. "Although a few children may experience some mild adverse reactions after vaccination, such as local pain, redness, swelling, fever, etc., these symptoms are usually temporary and can be relieved by themselves. Therefore, compared with the health risks that natural infection of the disease may bring, vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent the disease." Liang Aimin said.

  In reality, many children have some special circumstances, and parents also have many doubts about whether they can get vaccinated, such as whether they can get vaccinated if they missed the vaccine? Can children get vaccinated if they have allergic diseases? Can children with epilepsy get vaccinated?

  Liang Aimin said that vaccines that have not been vaccinated in time can be re-injected in accordance with the National Immunization Program vaccine immunization procedures and re-injection suggestions. The overall principle of vaccine re-injection is to complete re-injection as soon as possible, complete the full vaccination as soon as possible, and give priority to ensuring the full vaccination of the National Immunization Program vaccine. In addition, you only need to re-eat the unfinished dose, and there is no need to restart the full vaccination.

  Shen Ruiyun, deputy chief physician of the Health Center of Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that if a child suffers from an allergic disease, whether he can get vaccinated depends on the situation. If the vaccinator is known to be allergic to the components of the vaccine, or has an allergic reaction to the previous vaccination, it is prohibited to receive the relevant vaccine again. Because each child has different allergies, it is recommended to decide whether to get vaccinated after seeking advice from the doctor.

  Regarding whether children with epilepsy can get vaccinated, Wei Zhuang, deputy chief physician of the Health Center of Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that generally speaking, children with epilepsy who have acute epilepsy, recurrent episodes cannot be controlled during the acute seizure period, and have progressive neurological lesions or have more comorbidities should be temporarily postponed. "Considering the diverse causes of epilepsy, long courses, and complex clinical manifestations, whether to get vaccinated and how to get vaccinated needs to be treated with caution. A decision should be made after a detailed evaluation by the doctor."

  "So, before vaccinating the child, you must sort out and inform the doctor of the previous history of disease, medication, allergy history, whether you have suffered from diseases recently, whether you have received other vaccines, and whether you have any discomfort after the last vaccination, so that the doctor can grasp the taboos of vaccination." Liang Aimin said that a few days before and after vaccination, it is recommended not to give the child new and difficult to digest food to prevent adverse reactions from occurring.

[Editor in charge: Wu Jingze]