1ST CITY CLINICAL HOSPITAL

The main goal of vaccination

is to develop in a child an immune response to a weakened pathogen introduced by the vaccine, so that in the event of an encounter with a real pathogen, the disease either does not develop at all, or if it does develop, it is mild and, most importantly, does not cause severe complications.

The first vaccination given to a newborn in the maternity hospital in the first 12 hours of his life

This is a vaccine against hepatitis B. The fact is that if an adult becomes ill with hepatitis B, then the risk of this infection becoming chronic is approximately 10%, in young children this risk is 50%, and if a newborn child is infected, then in 90% of cases this disease can become chronic form with all the ensuing consequences and complications. Therefore, it is very important to get this vaccination in the first hours of a newborn’s life, especially if the mother has the hepatitis B virus.

Second vaccination

The second vaccination, which is given to a newborn in the maternity hospital on the 3-7th day of his life, is a vaccination against tuberculosis (BCG-M) , since this infection can be easily infected anywhere, and the causative agent of this disease is very resistant. The causative agent of tuberculosis is often resistant to many medications, so the main task of vaccinating a newborn is precisely to prepare his body for a highly likely encounter with this serious pathogen, so that the child’s body has already developed antibodies, i.e. protective cells, before meeting this disease.

Of course, it should be said that those vaccinations that are given to newborns in the maternity hospital will not protect your child 100% from infection, but they can protect him from severe and fatal forms of these diseases.

Further vaccination of the child will take place on an outpatient basis, after discharge from the maternity hospital, according to the generally accepted vaccination schedule.

Hepatitis B vaccination

Many mothers are very concerned that their newborn baby will be vaccinated against hepatitis B in the first hours of life in the maternity hospital.

“Why so early? - they say. “Is the hepatitis B vaccine safe for a baby at such an early age?”

What is hepatitis B and why is it dangerous?

Viral hepatitis B is one of the most dangerous diseases worldwide, killing about 2 million people every year, and 350 million people are infected carriers of this virus. The population's susceptibility to the hepatitis B virus is high; the infectious dose is 0.0000001 ml of serum containing HBV. Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by a virus that can remain active in the external environment for a long time.

How does hepatitis B become infected?

The following mechanism of infection with parenteral viral hepatitis is distinguished: natural (vertical), contact-hemocontact artificial (artificial).

The natural (vertical) mechanism occurs in the case of intrauterine transmission of the virus from mothers who are carriers of HBsAg or patients with acute hepatitis B in the third trimester of pregnancy, and more often with chronic hepatitis B with the formation of a congenital infection in the child. Infection of the fetus occurs in the following ways: hematogenously-transplacental (through the mother’s blood), intrapartum (during childbirth through the mother’s blood or vaginal secretions).

The contact-hematogenous mechanism is realized through: sexual contact (through blood, sperm, vaginal secretions), direct contact with damaged skin or mucous membranes, household parenteral infection (indirect contact through shared razors, manicure equipment, combs, toothbrushes, other objects, use which are associated with damage to the skin or mucous membranes).

The artificial (artificial) mechanism of infection with parenteral and viral hepatitis is realized through infected donor blood and its components, organs and (or) human tissues, with parenteral consumption of narcotic drugs and their analogues, non-medical (tattooing, piercing, ritual ceremonies, etc.) and medical manipulations (violating the integrity of the skin and mucous membranes) in the case of using instruments contaminated with PVG viruses.

Why should a newborn be vaccinated against hepatitis B on the first day of life?

Vaccination must be done at such an early stage due to the fact that the peculiarity of hepatitis B is such that newborns who become infected with this infection develop a chronic form of hepatitis B in almost 100% of cases. In contrast to the acute form of this infection, which a person can get sick and recover from with the development of immunity, its chronicity can lead to serious complications, such as cancer or cirrhosis of the liver, which will manifest themselves after many years. Older children and adults who become infected with hepatitis B rarely develop chronic forms of it, and that is why newborns are the weakest link here, since they are most susceptible to chronic hepatitis B infection.

Vaccination of a child against hepatitis B.

Vaccination is carried out in 3 stages: the first vaccination against hepatitis B will be given to a newborn in the maternity hospital in the first 12 hours of his life, the second - a month later, and the third - at five months of age. Immunity after vaccination will last for 8-10 years or for the rest of a person’s life. The modern vaccine does not cause adverse reactions, and moreover, the vaccination is completely safe, since the vaccine contains only vaccine protein and is inactivated. The effectiveness of this vaccine, according to experts, reaches 95%, and this is a good guarantee that even if you communicate with a sick person, hepatitis B infection will not occur.

Vaccination against tuberculosis

We all know that we live in an era of tuberculosis epidemic, and of course we do not want to become infected with this disease, and we are even more worried about our children. However, this does not prevent some parents from refusing to vaccinate their newborns against tuberculosis, since many of them are worried that their child may get tuberculosis from the vaccine itself.

But should we be afraid of this? What do we know about this disease? And what needs to be done to prevent our child from getting tuberculosis?

What is tuberculosis, how dangerous is this disease and how is it transmitted?

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the tuberculosis bacillus (Koch bacillus). When infected with tuberculosis, as a rule, in most cases the human lungs are affected, but extrapulmonary forms of this disease also occur. Young children may develop tuberculous meningitis, and in severe cases, tuberculous sepsis. This disease is transmitted mainly from a sick person who releases the tuberculosis bacillus into the environment. The difficulty is that the tuberculosis bacillus, which is released when a person with tuberculosis coughs, can remain viable for a very long time, so you can become infected with this infection anywhere. For example, such a stick can remain in driveway dust for a year. Tuberculosis is a very dangerous and insidious disease that can lead to human death. Its insidiousness lies in the fact that in children the onset of tuberculosis may be asymptomatic or there may be nonspecific symptoms of deterioration, for example, weakness, fatigue, and possibly a slight increase in temperature. It is very difficult to cure a person infected with tuberculosis, so preventing this disease is a very important task; it is not for nothing that the vaccine against tuberculosis (BCG) is included in the national calendar of preventive vaccinations.

The principle of action of the tuberculosis vaccine.

The principle of the tuberculosis vaccination is that live but weakened mycobacterium tuberculosis is introduced into the child’s body, which will form an immune anti-tuberculosis response in the baby’s body, so that later, when the child encounters this infection, he will be ready to cope with it and the disease did not develop. The BCG vaccine is a live vaccine, as numerous attempts to create a vaccine from killed bacteria have failed. This is due to the fact that the bacterial protein, in this case, circulating in the human body for a very limited time, does not have time to create proper immunity. There are numerous misconceptions that the BCG vaccination can protect a child from tuberculosis infection, but this is not entirely true. The fact is that the tuberculosis vaccination only creates intense anti-tuberculosis immunity, which can protect against severe forms of the disease if infection occurs.

When should a tuberculosis vaccination be given?

A healthy newborn child is vaccinated against tuberculosis with the consent of the parents in the maternity hospital on days 3-7. If there are medical contraindications, then the child is not vaccinated with BCG in the maternity hospital. In this case, it is carried out on an outpatient basis in a children's clinic. The immunity obtained after vaccination against tuberculosis lasts 7-10 years. Therefore, revaccination is carried out after this time.

How does the post-vaccination reaction develop after vaccination against tuberculosis?

The normal post-vaccination reaction after vaccination against tuberculosis is very variable, its size can vary up to 1 cm, it appears several months, usually 2-3 months after vaccination and forms a small compaction in the form of a vesicle, from which pus can burst out. This is an absolutely normal course of the post-vaccination reaction and by approximately the age of 1 year a post-vaccination scar will form at the vaccination site.