are extra vaccinations necessary?

B

bbc mom

Registered User
My 1.5yr old has just completed all his vaccinations upto 18mths as recommended by the HK Govt. However on our last checkup, the doctor recommended extra vaccinations to be taken before joining any playgroup/pre-schools, in the following order of importance:

1. Influenza
2. Pnemococcal
3. Chickenpox

I've already taken my son to mother/baby groups and so far (touch wood) he has never been ill or even had a cold yet. I plan to enrol in a more formal playschool in April but wondering whether to delay until he's had these extra jabs. I'll do some more research, but would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.
 
Personal experience (3y4m son) and opinion here...

Yes, I think they are all worth doing, but for a healthy child (assuming full-term birth, no respiratory issues etc.) I would rank them in completely the reverse order!!

Chickenpox is commonly recommended as an elective vacc around this age, and from our experience at least once per year playgroup has a case of chickenpox reported, so you can almost bet your son *will* be exposed in the next year or two. Up to you whether you wish to prevent a full blown dose of it or not, and many people choose not to prevent, preferring the "natural" way. I've seen the natural way, I chose to vaccinate!

Pneumococcal is now a standard in many countries for 1yr, and because our child was in a high-risk group (very low birth weight prem baby) we actually had it done earlier (2, 4 and 6 month). I would recommend it.

Influenza is not commonly given unless your child falls into a high risk group (our son is again, and receives it yearly). Having said that, I believe the US is now recommending it for every child under 5yrs.

Hope that helps.
 
My child didn't have the chickenpox and influenza vacinnations, ended up getting both: chickenpox and a bad influenza at two seperate occassion. At the hospital at both times, he was given special medicine which was not only very expensive, but very strong, though effective in speeding up the recovery. I remembered at the first occassion, the doctor asked me why I didn't give my kid chickenpox vac, and I told him I didn't know it exists! He told me it's a pretty common vac nowadays and was perplexed as to how I could not have known. When the doc asked me why I didn't give my kid the influenza vac, I told him I was scared that it may have side effects coz i heard from friends that it may happened, and he asked me, then why did you not ask your doctor instead of forming your own opinion or listen to non-professionals, besides there are millions of TV ads educating people how important it is, why did you ignore that? I was speechless, I know I was an idiot! Well, at least my kid has Pnemococcal shot after the two incidence above. Trust me (or better still, trust your doctor), it is so worth it, seeing your kid getting so ill is no joke. And the worries and guilt is no joke either.
 
Last edited:
Thank you both beckveldman and mailmail for replying and sharing your own experiences.
We have already decided to go ahead with the pnemococcal and chickenpox vaccines, and will probably delay or do the influenza jab last. The doctor did mention the flu jab is only effective upto June and that the new vaccine will be out in September for peak flu season.
Agree it's better to be safe than sorry. Thanks.
 
Where I am from pneumococcal is a standard vaccine given at 2,4,6, and 18 months to all infants, chickenpox is given to all 1 year olds, and influenza is given to all childrena nd infants under the age of 24 months, and to all the people who live in the same home as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top