Vaccinations are a matter of responsibility for your he alth, your family's he alth, and the he alth of the entire population. Doctors agree on this issue, and it is worse that social awareness in this regard still requires basic work.

Vaccinescontain antigens from viruses and bacteria that, when introduced into the body, trigger an immune system response against specific pathogens.Vaccinationsare particularly important in preventing viral diseases, which are usually very difficult to treat with drugs. Once in the body, the vaccine ingredients "pretend" to be attacked by real disease-causing germs. In the event of a simulated threat, the immune system produces mechanisms that will protect against real threats in the future. For lasting immunity, several doses of the vaccine may need to be given, including booster doses. Some vaccines are given once in a lifetime, others, such as flu vaccines, every year.

Vaccination: benefits

The benefits of vaccination are many: those who get vaccinated benefit (because if we don't get sick, we don't pay for drugs, we don't use L4, and vaccinated children don't miss school), his family and friends (because the disease will not be transmitted) and the whole society and the state (we do not get sick, so there is no need to burden the budget with the costs of treating diseases and their complications, we work by paying taxes instead of exploiting the employer and ZUS).

Herd immunity is also very important, i.e. the creation of a barrier from people immunized around the individual, which cannot be vaccinated for he alth reasons.

Unfortunately, many millions of people are still dying from infectious diseases, also in the countries of the so-called civilized. The reason - microbes keep mutating, and it is not possible to provide available and effective vaccines to all those in need.

Vaccines: types

Specific vaccines, the so-called traditional (classic) reduce the risk of developing a specific disease. They may contain:

  • weakened (attenuated) live microorganisms, e.g. against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella
  • non-live microorganisms (inactivated), e.g. pertussis whole cell vaccine,
  • devoid of virulence (toxoid), e.g. tetanus, diphtheria,
  • live pathogens (the only vaccine of this type was used against smallpox - the so-called smallpox).

Vaccines can be:

  • single (monovalent), i.e. protect against only one disease,
  • combined (polyvalent) - immunizing against several diseases simultaneously, eg six-component vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and hepatitis B. Such vaccines provide greater comfort, significantly reducing the number of punctures. New generation vaccines are developed using biotechnology and genetic engineering.

Vaccination safety: POST VACCINATION

Vaccines, like other drugs, may cause side effects: redness, swelling, pain at the injection site, less often - increased temperature, malaise, headache. They may be the result of a specific reaction of the vaccinated person's body, but also of incorrect administration, e.g. instead of intramuscular or subcutaneous - intravascularly. - Vaccination should not be afraid. Our immune system develops under the influence of our environment. The stimuli influencing this are various types of diseases, e.g. respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, generally speaking diseases present in our environment and those modified, administered externally in vaccines - says Dr. Wojciech Feleszko, pediatrician immunologist from the Clinic of Pneumonology and Allergology. At the Clinical Hospital of the Medical University of Warsaw in Warsaw. Each type of vaccine, both traditional and new generation, has its advantages and disadvantages, it was not possible to develop an ideal product - 100% effective. and not causing any side effects. Vaccines are produced in accordance with the highest technological regimes and admitted to trading after multi-stage studies. They are also subject to the strictest storage conditions (in refrigerated conditions at every stage and in distribution). The prevention of infectious diseases through mass vaccination is one of the greatest achievements of medicine. Even if some people experience adverse reactionsvaccine reactionsafter vaccination with the vaccine, remember that complications from infectious diseases are much more common and can be fatal.

Anti-vaccine hysteria

There has been much controversy, misunderstanding and misinformation around vaccination. - The most significant was the scientific publication of Dr. Andrew Wakefield in 1998, who in the prestigious scientific journal "Lancet" published an article suggesting that the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps,rubella) caused autism in children. This information led to the vaccination crash in Great Britain, where vaccination against these diseases fell below the safety limit, says Dr. Wojciech Feleszko. - These arguments have been repeatedly refuted as being unscientific and completely untrue. Dozens of studies contradicted Wakefield's information, and the magazine apologized for the publication. Unfortunately, this rumor still lives on of its own, also in Poland. Black PR has harmed MMR vaccinations, and as a result the number of cases of measles, a dangerous disease for which vaccination is mandatory, has increased in recent years in many countries in Europe and the world, warns the doctor. This is not the only case where inaccurate studies and biased information about their results have led to a decline in the number of vaccinations. In the 1970s, immunization against whooping cough was discontinued in Germany, allegedly because the vaccine could cause brain damage. The French were told that the hepatitis B vaccine was one of the causes of multiple sclerosis. The news that vaccines - almost all of them - cause AIDS, infertility, and transmit lethal prions have also caused great hysteria. Although none of these reports has been confirmed by many years of research independent of the pharmaceutical companies, the social impact has always been severe. Vaccination is effective in combating disease only when it is carried out on a large scale. Widespread vaccination against smallpox led to the elimination of this deadly disease in 1980. If a small percentage of the population is vaccinated or vaccination intervals are incompatible with vaccine dosing, pathogens may mutate, resulting in the emergence of new pathogenic strains against which no vaccines are available. are effective.

Do Poles get vaccinated?

Only one adult in six got the flu shot, one in ten got jaundice, and only 8 percent. against tetanus - according to the research carried out by SMG / KRC Poland Media S.A. in February 2010. Confidence in preventive vaccinations outweighs skepticism, although we use vaccinations rarely and to a limited extent. When asked about diseases against which they can be vaccinated, the respondents mention the flu, hepatitis B and childhood diseases: chicken pox, measles, rubella, and mumps. Nevertheless, the average respondent is only able to spontaneously name 2-3 vaccinated diseases. It cannot be said that we demonize vaccinations. More than half of the respondents declare a positive or very positive attitude. Only 7 percent. subjectsshares negative views, of which only 3 percent. radically rejects all vaccinations. Skeptics most often justified their attitudes by "mistrust", that "vaccines do not work" and that "they are harmful". The responses also included statements such as: "pharmaceutical companies want to earn" (4 percent), "vaccines are expensive" (4 percent). It should be emphasized, however, that the attitudes caused by the rumors that vaccinations caused autism or diabetes are marginal. Surprisingly, there are slightly more people (about 10%) who are reluctant to vaccinations in the group of the best educated and the best earners, and therefore having a high opinion-forming role. Women are a bit more "yes" than men. As many as one-third of respondents do not have an opinion on this matter - these are people still susceptible to all kinds of arguments, including those that undermine the sense and safety of vaccinations. Despite the generally good perception of vaccinations, the conclusion cannot be encouraging - over 70 percent the respondents were not vaccinated at all after the age of 18.

Vaccinations and vaccines: neglect

- The model of compulsory vaccinations implemented in Poland is the result of a certain compromise. Vaccinations against hepatitis B, tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus infuenzae type B, measles, mumps and rubella are paid from the budget - believes the rector of the Medical University in Poznań, pediatrician prof. dr hab. Jacek Wysocki, MD, PhD. - Under special circumstances, this scope is widened. There are international recommendations indicating what each country should include in the vaccination calendar, each country also performs epidemiological analyzes, identifying the areas of threats. The content and expansion of the calendar depends on the budget and financial outlays for he althcare. - What is missing is the pneumococcal vaccine, which is very useful and which absolutely must be introduced. There is no vaccine against rotavirus, which in our conditions is not fatal, but causes many he alth complications that require expensive hospital treatment. There is also a lack of a vaccine against meningococcus - believes prof. Jacek Wysocki. - Fortunately, vaccination against Haemophilus infuenzae type B, the so-called Hib, i.e. bacteria that cause severe meningitis and severe sepsis in young children - adds Prof. Wysocki also lists a vaccine against hepatitis A viruses, although he notes that the incidence is currently low due to improved sanitary conditions in the food trade, but the virus exists and at any timewe may be dealing with a compensatory epidemic. There is also no universal vaccination against chickenpox, which attacks around 140,000 children every year on a massive scale each year, of which around 1,000 are treated in hospitals for serious complications. Although a vaccine is available, it is not widely used for financial reasons. Many parents, however, decide to buy it out of their own pocket. The calendar of obligatory preventive vaccinations should be extended - he adds.Press material prepared by the Association "Journalists for He alth" for the fourth edition of educational workshops for journalists from the series "Quo vadis medicina?", March 2011

Category:

Infectious diseases