Why measles booster vaccine dose is important for your kid

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3 years ago

VACCINATORS are over the place with the measles vaccine, oral polio and other vaccines for children. Across the country, children are asked to take vitamin A supplements and other supplements to boost body immunity against illnesses.

Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease caused by the measles virus and it is a disease of public health importance that usually affects children younger than the age of five years. The measles virus is spread through coughing and sneezing from close personal contact or direct contact with infected persons.

It typically starts like a bad cold with symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, and conjunctivitis (pink eye). A rash then starts to develop on the head and spreads down to the rest of the body. Many children also get ear infections.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have warned of a “perfect storm” of conditions for measles outbreaks, as measles cases increased by 79 per cent in the first two months of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.

In a report, the UN agencies stated that an increase in measles cases in January and February 2022 is a worrying sign of a heightened risk for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and could trigger larger outbreaks, particularly of measles affecting millions of children this year.

“Ensuring that children take doses of the measles vaccine after a previous dose is to boost their immunity against the viral infection. Even if the child has had measles before, the child should still take the dose to further enhance the body’s ability against the infection, even when exposed,” said Dr Adeyemi Adewole, the Programme Manager of Oyo State Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Center.

He spoke at a media parley in Ibadan on the commencement of the integrated measles campaign in Oyo State starting on Thursday. It is to avail at least 1.234 million children aged 5 to 59 months for vaccine against measles and other vaccine-preventable childhood diseases at fixed and temporary fixed posts to reduce mortality and morbidity in children across the state.

Apart from its direct effect on the body, which can be lethal, the measles virus also weakens the immune system and makes a child more vulnerable to other infectious diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea, including months after the measles infection itself among those who survive.

The measles vaccine is frequently given as part of a combined vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella – known as MMR.

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children can become infected in crèches and schools, which is why it is important to protect our children from the virus because if it is not prevented or promptly treated, measles could lead to blindness, pneumonia, and inflammation of the brain which require hospitalisation and on rare occasions can lead to long term disability or death.

Moreover, he stated that ensuring that children get vaccinated will also help to prevent the complications associated with measles such as pneumonia and encephalitis, an infection of the brain. Also, they seem more likely to have a milder illness.

“Mothers need to ensure their children receive all recommended vaccine doses to enjoy the full benefits of vaccination. By age nine months, most children would have taken doses of different vaccines, so we don’t expect any adverse reaction when a child is given a booster dose of measles or in addition to other vaccines like that for polio,” he added.

Meanwhile, delaying measles vaccination for whatever reason is also dangerous for children. Researchers in a study, which emphasised the importance of following the timing of immunisation of children, said delaying certain routine immunisations past the first 15 months of life could boost the risk of fever-related seizures.

They studied vaccination records of over 323,000 U.S. children from 2004 to 2008 to know if babies whose vaccinations were delayed were more likely to develop fever-related seizures. It found that when vaccination is postponed, the risk of fever-related seizures rises twofold. But the risk is still really low. The study was published online on May 19 in Pediatrics.

Meanwhile, according to Dr Babatunde Ogunbosi, a consultant paediatrician at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, delaying measles vaccination or opting out of booster doses in measles endemic areas is not advisable except there are contraindications to doing so.

It is well evident that the consequences of not giving vaccines are far more than the adverse events. So Vaccinations should be performed regardless of age; medically attended febrile seizures following immunization with measles-containing vaccines are rarely encountered.

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