Index
It is very common for children to have many vaccinations, especially in their early years. We all know how important they are and the danger of not taking the right doses , especially the pentavalent vaccine. To get a sense, diseases such as rubella, measles, meningitis and polio can be avoided only with injections, just to name a few.
Although they bring many benefits, vaccines are many, which brings more suffering to the baby and more stress for the mother and children. It is in this context that the pentavalent vaccine appears to solve this problem and improve the way vaccines are administered.
This is because this vaccine prevents several of these diseases at once , which saves mothers from having the trouble of taking their children to hospitals and health centers many times, and also saves babies from receiving so many mints.
ATTENTION: The pentavalent vaccine is not the only existing combined vaccine, but it is probably the best known. We can also cite the hexa vaccine as another well-known combined vaccine.
How is Pentavalent Vaccine Applied?
The pentavalent vaccine is normally applied in three doses , the first being given to the baby at two months of age. The interval for each dose is 60 days. In addition, vaccine boosters are also given when the child is 15 months old and between 4 and 6 years old. The pentavalent vaccine can be applied in both public and private hospitals.
What Diseases Does Pentavalent Vaccine Prevent?
The pentavalent vaccine is of great importance for the baby’s health because it prevents many diseases at once. Without the vaccine, the child’s health is at serious risk of becoming fragile and problems arising. The diseases that the pentavalent vaccine prevents are:
- Diphtheria (Croup)
- Tetanus
- Whooping cough
- Hepatite B
- Infections caused by Haemophilus influenza type B
We will explain a little more about each of these diseases and how the pentavalent vaccine helps prevent them.
Diphtheria (Croup)
Diphtheria is a disease caused by a bacillus called a toxicogen. It usually lodges in organs such as the tonsils, the larynx, the pharynx, the nose, as well as other mucous regions of the body. Diphtheria, or croup, is a communicable disease , that is, it is passed directly from person to person through bacterial droplets that are expelled by coughing, spitting or sneezing.
A person who has not had a vaccine against this disease can get it from someone who is infected or someone who is susceptible. The neck of the infected child can become swollen, and in more severe cases, the disease can affect the heart and make it difficult to breathe.
Tetanus
Tetanus is a contagious disease, but it is not transmissible from person to person . This means that, for someone to be infected with tetanus, it is necessary to be pierced with some object, usually iron such as a nail, scissors or rusty needle or even with dirty glass.
The disease attacks the central nervous system , leaving the body’s muscles stiff and making it difficult to move. The tetanus vaccine can even be applied after serious injuries and it is said that the vaccine was applied more than 10 years ago.
Whooping cough
Whooping cough is a disease that is also transmissible from person to person by droplets from coughing, sneezing, saliva or other secretions. The disease causes major coughing spells in children, lasting at least 21 days, but which can last for months depending on the severity of the situation. In addition to this coughing spell, difficulty in breathing with a loud noise and vomiting may also appear.
Hepatite B
Hepatitis B is a disease that can be transmitted by various secretions in our body such as blood, semen and body fluids. The big problem with hepatitis B is how the body deals with the virus, since when it sends cells to fight it, it ends up causing the liver to swell, the worst symptom for people with the virus.
There is no treatment for this disease , so it is important that the vaccine is taken correctly. By knowing a little more about each of these diseases, we can better understand why the pentavalent vaccine is so important and why it has so many benefits for babies.
Contraindications for Pentavalent Vaccine
The pentavalent vaccine is not indicated for children who have any type of allergy or hypersensitivity to the elements that make up the vaccine, as well as children who after the first dose have shown any of the symptoms: Fever above 39 ° C, seizures, circulatory collapse or encephalopathy within 7 days after application of the previous dose of the vaccine.
Pentavalent Vaccine Reactions
Normally, the reactions of the children’s body to the pentavalent vaccine are mild, limited to redness at the site where the vaccine was administered and a mild fever. There are, however, cases where more intense reactions happen, with a high fever for just one day (it is important to note that if the fever persists, you should see a doctor) and the child’s irritability. Even these strongest reactions are considered to be normal, so there is nothing to worry about.
Nowadays we live in a world where many diseases have already been eradicated or controlled by medicine and the simple fact of vaccinating a child can get rid of many of them.
Vaccinating children is essential to prevent various diseases. We know that it is not an easy task to take your children to have injections at all times, and the difficulty increases with the number of children you need to care for. That is why the pentavalent vaccine is extremely useful to make our lives easier and to be able to fight all these diseases at once.
See also: Know when the baby can go for a walk
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
