Better Protection With Fewer Shots

Most children do not like to be given injections as it can be a painful and traumatising experience. This can be a stressful affair, as you will have to deal with your child’s tears and fears.

Under the National Immunisation Schedule, it protects the child from ten diseases and a total of eight injections (excluding booster shots), up to the age of one year. Missing any one of these vaccines is a risk to your child’s health, exposing him to potentially fatal diseases. With combination vaccines, the number of shots can be largely reduced.

In 2009, the Ministry of Health has replaced live oral polio vaccine (OPV) with inactivated injectable one (IPV), and also whole- cell pertussis (whooping cough) with acellular pertussis vaccine. These are improvements to the national schedule and are given in the form of combination vaccines.

Why should I Give my Child Combination Vaccines?

Children	Fewer injections. Experience less pain, discomfort and fear. Offers protection against a wide range of diseases.
Parents	Fewer doctor visits (less time off from work). Reduce overall expenses. Less time spent to pacify child’s crying after immunisation.

Frequently Asked Questions on Combination Vaccines

Combination vaccines have long been incorporated into the National Immunisation Schedule, yet many parents still have questions. Read on as we try to answer these questions and more.

Are combination vaccines effective?

There are factors that need to be considered before vaccines are combined, including the reactivity of vaccine components against each other and the stability of all components in the vaccines. Combination vaccines that have been successfully produced and used are as safe and effective, and possibly more so than individual single-disease vaccines. It has been shown that combination vaccines produce similar or fewer reactions at the injection site and throughout the body when compared to single-disease vaccine.

Will children be able to handle the high dosage of antigens introduced in one single combination vaccine shot?

Most vaccines contain a weakened form of antigens from the bacteria or virus that will elicit a response from the immune system, but will not cause the development of a disease. Even with combination vaccines, studies have shown that combination vaccines cannot “overload” your child’s immune system. Children’s immune system is capable of handling many more times the antigens compared to those introduced through combination vaccines.

Where can I get the option of combination vaccines?

Combination vaccines under the National Immunisation Schedule are typically accessible in both government and private hospitals or clinics. Among a few combination vaccines that are now under the schedule are MMR (trivalent) and DTaP-IPV-HiB (pentavalent). Additional combination vaccines (eg; tetravalent MMRV or hexavalent DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB) are only available in private practices. Hexavalent vaccines protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Haemophilus influenzae b (causing meningitis), poliovirus and hepatitis B in a single shot. If you are interested in getting your child immunised with these combination vaccines, please consult your doctor.

Are combination vaccines cheaper than individual vaccines?

In 1974, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) to get children less than one year of age immunised. Vaccines under the EPI are free of charge in government hospitals. Combination vaccines under the National EPI are also free at government hospitals. Parents can opt for other combinations that cover more diseases at an additional cost in private clinics. The combinations include MMRV and DTP-Hep B-Hib-Polio vaccines. At first glance, combination vaccines are not necessarily cheaper. However, it saves parents’ time by having lesser doctor visits and injections, thus lowering the total cost.