Know your child's vaccination schedule
Which vaccines do children need to be given before they turn 16?
Vaccines save lives. Vaccines mean protection. Protection for children against all preventable diseases. And if you have been vaccinated or have vaccinated your children, you are part of the chain that keeps all humanity safe.
Which vaccines do children need to be given before they turn 16? When should these vaccines be administered and which diseases are they protecting children from?
We present to you a series of infographics explaining the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) to keep you informed about the vaccination schedule of your children and help you understand the diseases they are preventing children from.
Make sure you save the schedule and vaccinate children against all vaccine-preventable diseases.
And parents and caregivers, please don’t forget to vaccinate your children. Thanks to vaccines and with dedication, care and love, we can secure a long life for every child.
BCG Vaccine
Tuberculosis (TB), is a leading cause of human disease and death, particularly in developing countries. The bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has existed for 80 years and is one of the most widely used of all current vaccines, in countries, including India, where it is part of the Universal Immunization Program (UIP).
BCG vaccine has a documented protective effect against meningitis and disseminated TB in children.
Hepatitis B Vaccine
Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.
WHO recommends that all infants receive the Hepatitis B vaccine as soon as possible after birth, preferably within 24 hours, followed by two or three doses of hepatitis B vaccine at least 4 weeks apart to complete the vaccination series.
Protection lasts at least 20 years and is probably lifelong.
Oral Polio Vaccine
Poliomyelitis is a crippling disease that results from infection with any one of the three related poliovirus types (referred to as types P1, P2, and P3), members of the enterovirus (picornavirus) family.
The oral polio vaccine (OPV) is given to help prevent polio.
Pentavalent Vaccine
The pentavalent vaccine provides protection to a child from five life-threatening diseases – Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib. Giving pentavalent vaccine reduces the number of pricks to a child, and provides protection from all five diseases
Rotavirus Vaccine
Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhoeal disease in infants and young children worldwide. Primarily transmitted by the faecal-oral route, rotaviruses affect most children worldwide before three years and in most developing countries before the first birthday.
The Rotavirus vaccine protects against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhoea among young children. (Source: WHO)
Polio can be prevented through immunization. The Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life.
The development of effective vaccines to prevent paralytic polio was one of the major medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.
Measles is an acute viral infection that spreads via respiratory secretions. Symptoms include fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis. Complications and mortality are highest in children < 2 years. and in adults. Rubella is a contagious, generally mild viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults.
Rubella infection in pregnant women may cause foetal death or congenital defects known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). There is no specific treatment for rubella, but the disease is preventable by vaccination. CRS during pregnancy may result in spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and serious birth defects.
A combined live vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (UIP) is used widely for the immunization of children in certain regions of the world, including India because of its advantages over individual vaccines.
The vaccine is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles). The first dose is generally given to children around 9 months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to six years of age, with at least four weeks between the doses
The DPT vaccine or DTP vaccine is a class of combination vaccines against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus.
The vaccine components include diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and either killed whole cells of the bacterium that causes pertussis or pertussis antigens.
The primary dose of DPT provided as part of pentavalent vaccine and 2 booster doses are given at 16 -24 months and 5-6 years, respectively
Td vaccine is a combination of tetanus and diphtheria with lower concentration of diphtheria antigen (d). The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recommends the replacement of the TT vaccine with the Td vaccine for all age groups, including pregnant women, across the country.
Pneumococcal diseases are a common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, more severely affecting young children and the elderly.
The pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) are included in the childhood immunization programmes, particularly in countries with high childhood mortality.
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a flavivirus related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, and is spread by mosquitoes. JEV is the main cause of viral encephalitis in many countries of Asia with an estimated 68 000 clinical cases every year.
Safe and effective vaccines are available to prevent JE. WHO recommends that JE vaccination be integrated into national immunization schedules in all areas where JE disease is recognized as a public health issue. In India, JE vaccine is provided sub nationally in select JE endemic districts.
Text source: WHO
