Vaccination Guidelines for Children and Adolescents

Prioritize free vaccines from the national immunization program, and then choose self-paid vaccines from non-immunization programs based on your child’s age, allergy history, and daily activity scenarios. You don’t have to blindly chase expensive vaccines, and don’t miss out on the basics that must be administered. I have been responsible for children's vaccination education in grassroots disease control for almost 7 years. I have seen too many parents either with the mentality of "all free ones are bad", or with the mentality that "all the fees are IQ taxes" and not using self-funded vaccines. In fact, they are all going to extremes.

Let me give you some reassurance: the vaccines included in the free vaccination list in our country are all newly needed vaccines that have been proven for decades and have blocked countless serious infectious diseases in children, such as hepatitis B, BCG, diphtheria-tetanus pertussis, leprosy, mumps, and Japanese encephalitis. As long as they are taken according to the time on the vaccination book, they can block more than 90% of serious infectious diseases that are high in childhood. Last year, a primary school in our district had an outbreak of measles. The source was finally traced to a transfer student. He had missed a leprosy and gills booster shot at home with his grandparents, thinking that one shot when he was a child was enough. In the end, dozens of children in the class were suspended from classes and quarantined for two weeks. The parent later came to us and cried, saying that if he had known better, he would not have missed the shot. Oh, by the way, many children missed vaccinations due to the epidemic in the past three years. Don’t panic. Just make up for the missed shots before the age of 14. A slightly longer interval will not affect the effect, and there is no need to restart the vaccination.

When it comes to self-funded vaccines, the most debate I’ve seen is “whether it’s an IQ tax?” One group of parents thinks that if the government does not provide free services, it is useless, and they don’t want to spend a penny. The other group only wants to pay for all arrangements, and thinks that the more expensive it is, the better the protection. In fact, both of these ideas are a bit biased. Let’s talk about my own daughter. When she was a child, I only chose Wulian, EV71 hand, foot and mouth, and annual influenza vaccine for her. When she was 12 years old, she received the second-price HPV vaccine, and I did not take any other vaccines at her own expense. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s that my children rarely go to crowded closed playgrounds since they were little. They are in good health and don’t have any need for contact with pets. Things like 13-valent pneumonia and rabies vaccine pre-exposure prophylaxis are not very cost-effective for our family. But if your child has just entered day care and plays with a dozen children every day, it is really recommended to arrange for EV71, whorls, and 13-price pneumonia. Last year, I saw several children in day care suffering from severe hand, foot and mouth disease. They stayed in the ICU for a week and spent hundreds of thousands. The thousands of dollars for vaccines are really nothing compared to this.

There is another question that is often debated: Can babies with allergies be vaccinated? There was a mother who brought her child who was severely allergic to eggs to get a flu shot. She went to two vaccination sites and was rejected, saying that she could not be vaccinated for egg allergy. When she came here, I read the latest Chinese influenza vaccination guide for her. Egg allergy has long been listed as a non-taboo. As long as it is not an acute allergic attack and there are no serious reactions such as difficulty breathing, it can be vaccinated. Later, the baby had no problems. Of course, I can also understand the doctors who refused to treat patients before. After all, the old guidelines in the early years did have this requirement, and everyone was afraid of taking responsibility. If your child has a history of severe allergies, don't argue with the vaccination doctor. Bring all previous allergy reports and medical records. If you are really unsure, you can go to the pediatrician for an evaluation first. It's always safe to err on the side of caution.

By the way, there is another rumor that has been circulating for almost 20 years, saying that vaccinations will destroy a child’s own immunity and even lead to autism. I have really seen too many parents believe this and not vaccinate their children with Japanese encephalitis. In the end, their children contracted Japanese encephalitis and were left with lifelong disabilities. It is a pity. The paper that said vaccines are related to autism has long been retracted. The author received money from lawyers to falsify it. This has been going on for many years. Don’t believe it anymore. Of course, I am not saying that the vaccine is 100% safe. There is indeed a very low probability of abnormal reactions. This probability is about one in a million, which is lower than the probability of being hit by a car when you go out to buy groceries. There is really no need to stop eating due to choking.

In fact, after working for so many years, my deepest feeling is that vaccination is really the most cost-effective health investment. If you are really unsure about what vaccine to vaccinate your baby, don’t search for posts online with scary titles. Many of these are people selling private vaccination services who are deliberately creating anxiety. Just take your child's vaccination book and go to the vaccination desk of the community health service center near your home to ask. We do this every day, and the advice we give is definitely more reliable than strangers online. Oh, by the way, remember to wear a loose top for your baby when you go, and stay for 30 minutes after the vaccination before leaving. This is really not a formality. Previously, a baby developed allergies and rashes after being vaccinated and went out. We dealt with it on the spot.