What you need to know about vaccinating your child
Dr Ahmed A Quayum
Every child under 1 year of age is aimed to receive vaccines that protect him/her from vaccine preventable diseases like childhood tuberculosis, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis and measles. In addition, 15 to 49 years aged childbearing women are too eligible to receive 5 doses of tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccine. As per the national policy, all these services are free of cost. The service is a national commitment to reduce child morbidity and mortality rate, which is very high in our country even, in contrast to other SAARC countries. There are other vaccines too which are available at different venues in our country but there are questions about its quality. No vaccine is effective if it is administered before the scheduled date.As a guardian you must be informed that the vaccination schedule is a prime responsibility of GO/NGO health workers. However, for your convenient, it is cited here: Normally, when your child is 6 weeks old, the 1st dose of DPT and OPV vaccines along with BCG should be administered. Additional two doses of DPT and OPV should be given at an interval of at least 4 weeks. So, when your child will be 3 and a half months old, s/he should be given 3 doses of DPT and OPV and single dose of BCG. The single dose of BCG vaccine can also be given even just after birth along with an extra dose of OPV. This is commonly practised at most hospitals and clinics. Stepping at the age of 10th month your child in now eligible to receive single dose of measles vaccine along with 4th dose of OPV and 1 lakh IU (International Unit) of Vitamin A. Within the last couple of years, the government of Bangladesh launched Hepatitis B vaccines for under 1-year children group. The 3 doses of Hep-B vaccines are administered along with 3 doses of DPT having a similar minimum interval of time in between two subsequent doses. At the 1st phase it was launched in 6 districts in 6 divisions, 1 City Corporation and 1 municipality. Within 2005, the whole country would be covered phase-wise. The inclusion of this new vaccine in our national programme is supported by GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccine & Immunisation). This highly expensive and life saving vaccine is free of cost too. Guardians must be cautioned about common side effects of all these vaccines and they should not be afraid of the same. These include a mild or low grade fever (remediable by cold sponging), excessive crying when lower limbs are moved and ulcer formation at the left arm where BCG vaccine is administered followed by pus formation and finally permanent scar marking. This scar mark following BCG vaccination ensures the efficacy of the vaccine. You should not be worried about these side effects. Your child will be free from all these within a few days. Any woman attaining the age of 15 years must receive 1 dose of TT vaccine followed by 2nd dose of the same at least 28 days later. The scheduled 3rd dose should be received at least 6 months later from the date of the 2nd one. The last 2 doses (4th and 5th) must be received with a minimum interval of 1 year from the date of 3rd dose. So, if you want to complete the 5 doses of TT vaccine you need at least 2 years and 7 months. The status of pregnancy does not affect the schedule of this vaccine in any extend. Remember, these services are free of cost and the nation is committed to provide you quality vaccine through EPI (Expanded Programme on Immunisation). It is your basic right to know what kind of service is available for your children.
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