Vaccinations prevent severe illnesses and even deaths, with children benefiting more from vaccines than from any other preventive programmes in history. Vaccinating your child against pneumococcal infections means protecting him or her from pneumonia, septicaemia, otitis media, and meningitis. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the introduction of the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) in the U.S. led to a major drop in the recorded instances of pneumococcal infections amongst children under five.
PCV was first introduced in the U.S. in 2000 as a mandatory vaccination. Immediate results could be seen; invasive pneumococcal infection rates dropped by around 97%, and herd immunity also accounted for reduced incidences of disease in older children and adults.
The pneumococcal vaccine was first introduced in Malaysia in 2005 but has yet to be included in our National Immunisation Programme. It is however, part of the list of optional vaccines recommended by Ministry of Health.
Unfortunately for Puan MH*, the advent of this vaccine came too late as she lost her daughter RA, who was only five months old, to pneumococcal meningitis in 2004.
Puan MH still vividly remembers her last moments with her daughter, and the speed at which events happened left her and her family with no time to prepare for the sad events that culminated with her daughter’s passing as it took place over a period of about four days.
Sadly, her experience has not made much of an impact on her other family members who still prefer not to vaccinate their children with the pneumococcal vaccine, preferring instead to leave matters to chance. This situation is quite prevalent among many parents who are still refusing to even consider vaccinating their children with PCV.
The spectrum of diseases caused by the pneumococcus is largely preventable, and as such, wilfully denying your child of this vaccination might mean toying with the fine line between life and death.
It is not too late to vaccinate older children who have not received this vaccine before. The adage “prevention is better than cure” may sound awfully clichéd, yet it still remains relevant. Protect your little ones before it’s too late.
* Disclaimer: Names have been changed to protect privacy
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