Health professionals on the safety of routine childhood vaccination

We asked a paediatrician, an immunisation nurse practitioner and an immunisation nurse about different aspects of childhood immunisation. When making a decision about vaccinating your child, it’s always good idea to talk to medical professionals first.

1:59:00

Vaccination is important because it's

the safest and most effective way of

preventing your child from getting

severe infection it's the best way to

protect your child from the disease

without them actually Contracting the

disease the vaccines are tried they're

tested they're very safe very low

reaction and they're given at the right

times

parents often ask me if it's safe for

babies and young children to have

several vaccinations at once and the

data is very clear it is safe babies

receive multiple vaccines at the same

time to protect them from the earliest

possible time Point their immune systems

are incredibly clever and can cope with

many vaccines all at the one time and

also there's a psychological aspect if

they only come in once and they get a

few vaccines it's less disturbing for

the children it's the same as giving

them one is giving them full they react

the same most children when they're

vaccinated don't have any side effects

at all and on the rare occasion where a

side effect does occur it's usually

local at the injection site with some

mild redness or swelling they could

cause a local reaction that can be

treated with a cold compress or maybe a

mild temperature that can be treated

with paracetamol and I often say to

parents if they're getting a reaction

that's a good thing it means that their

immune system is responding to that

vaccine and that means that it's working

and their children are protected if a

parent is concerned about vaccinations

and in two minds for whatever reasons we

usually try to reinforce the fact if a

baby gets sick there's a lot more

intervention than just having a vaccine

having a vaccine is a much simpler way

of protecting your child they cause a

little bit of discomfort for a lifetime

of gain in healthcare we understand that

some parents are concerned about

vaccination but my take-home message

today is that the benefit hugely

outweighs the risk

 

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