The start of the school year is approaching and families begin with the requirements for returning to school: supplies, uniforms, but we must not forget to add health checks and a visit to the pediatrician to the list.
This consultation is of great importance to not only carry out annual check-ups on all children and adolescents, but it is also an excellent opportunity to review the vaccination schedule and ensure that children return to school with up-to-date vaccines.
Having the vaccination schedule up to date is an essential health strategy to control the impact of vaccine-preventable diseases in the community. Vaccination on time with the indicated doses will not only protect vaccinated children and adolescents, but also contributes to creating collective health, protecting individuals against specific diseases and contributing to herd immunity.
In other words, by ensuring that students are properly vaccinated in elementary, high school, and college, the risk of disease outbreaks in the community is reduced.
Recently, the Ministry of Health of the Nation issued an alert in the country about a confirmed case of Measles in a 6-year-old child in the CABA region, a disease that in Argentina, thanks to vaccination, endemic circulation has been interrupted in 2000. although sporadic outbreaks have been recorded since then, underscoring the need to maintain high vaccination coverage and an efficient surveillance system.
Although a slight increase in vaccination coverage was observed in the last year, it still remains low. Incomplete or very low vaccination coverage facilitates the appearance of controlled or eliminated diseases such as hepatitis A, invasive diseases caused by Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), diphtheria and tetanus, and even some that have been eradicated or are in the process of being eradicated, such as congenital rubella syndrome. , measles and polio.
This is why for us, pediatricians, it is vitally important that children attend consultations at least twice a year, since there are many health issues that change, not only in their anatomy but also in updates. of vaccination schedules depending on the historical moment of life from newborns, children and adolescents.
In the case of those children and adolescents with incomplete vaccination schedules, it is also important to keep in mind some considerations such as that in no case should vaccination schedules be restarted; but to complete it with the vaccines that you need to receive. In the same sense and with the aim of completing delayed schedules, the corresponding vaccines will be administered simultaneously; and there is no maximum limit of applications to be managed in the same application; Vaccines received simultaneously do not interfere with each other, in terms of immunogenicity and efficacy; and it is essential to know and respect the intervals between doses to ensure an adequate immune response. If these intervals become shorter, the immune response may not be satisfactory.
Furthermore, I want to remember and emphasize that all vaccines on the national calendar are free, mandatory, and are applied in official vaccination centers, health centers and public hospitals throughout the country.
Pediatrician (MN 84.374), expert in epidemiology at the Ricardo Gutiérrez Children’s Hospital.
2024-02-25 08:15:35
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