Have you prepared for the National Children’s Vaccination Day to build an immune defense line for your baby？

Baby, fragile human cub.

A long time ago, it was a great luck for a baby to spend a hundred days smoothly. Every moment after leaving the mother, pathogens have been eyeing around the baby-they may get tetanus from scissors that cut the umbilical cord, smallpox from the cough of a fever, or polio from drinking unclean water.

These deadly diseases have prevented mankind for thousands of years. It was not until the emergence of modern medicine in the 19th century that human beings found out the true features of pathogens and developed vaccines to build the first line of defense for babies.

Please give the baby’s immune defense line "foreign aid"

People who have been vaccinated know something about the mechanism of vaccines-vaccines train the immune system to recognize and respond by introducing harmless forms of pathogens. When real viruses and germs invade the body, the immune system has already made preparations to kill pathogens accurately and protect human health.

In order to protect children to the greatest extent, countries all over the world have started immunization programs since the beginning of the 20th century, trying to deal with various major infectious diseases by systematically immunizing children.

China’s national immunization program began in 1978. After decades of efforts, the vaccination rate of children has reached and remained at a high level, and many infectious diseases that threaten children’s health and survival, such as polio and diphtheria, have been effectively controlled.

After nearly 50 years of development, the types of immunization programs in China are increasing and becoming more and more complete. According to the 2021 edition of the National Immunization Program Vaccine Immunization Procedures and Instructions for Children, children need to be vaccinated for about 20 times before the age of 2, and newborns are vaccinated during the "intensive period" from birth to 18 months, with an average vaccination every other month.

Immunization planning, "the road to evolution" and "unfinished needs"

While the immune defense line is constantly being built, it also brings new unfinished needs.

On the one hand, it is the challenge of vaccination itself. Some parents feel slightly exaggerated that every vaccination is a "journey" for babies and parents.

For parents, the most distressing thing is to watch chubby little hands and feet get stuck in a needle, and then hear the child burst into a terrible cry, not to mention the trouble of taking a baby out of the house, the bad heart of waiting in line and worrying about possible adverse reactions.

On the other hand, the protection of vaccines also indirectly reduces the public’s awareness of those "ancient" diseases-this needs to be vigilant, because some diseases have not disappeared from us. For example, in recent years, many countries have reported that the incidence of whooping cough, which once fell to a low level, has been rising all the way, and whooping cough infection has come back.

Many people may think that the DTP vaccine containing pertussis antigen can be "once and for all"-in fact, because people are generally susceptible to pertussis, the human body can gain immunity to pertussis through natural infection or vaccination. However, more and more studies show that immunity acquired through natural infection or vaccination cannot last for life. With the attenuation of vaccine immunity and natural infection immunity, a large number of people susceptible to pertussis are gradually accumulated.

For babies, especially those who have not established protective barriers, when parents and other family members are infected with whooping cough, the baby’s situation is particularly dangerous. The data show that infants under 1 year old account for more than half of the reported cases of pertussis, and among the severely ill children, 64% infants are younger than 3 months old.

Vaccinate in time to help protect the seedlings.

Timely and efficient "protection" is the key word for vaccine development. This is because the number of vaccines that can be vaccinated at the same time is limited, and the more vaccines vaccinated as soon as possible, the more meaningful it is to build the baby’s immune barrier in an all-round way. Under this background, the combined vaccine came into being, making it possible to prevent many diseases with one vaccine. By reducing the number of injections and improving the vaccination efficiency, the baby can get fewer needles while maintaining or improving the protective effect of the vaccine.

The well-known "DTP" is a classic triple vaccine. In recent years, through technological innovation, it has been continuously combined with higher prices, and four vaccines, five vaccines and six vaccines have come out one after another. The diseases that can be prevented at the same time have also expanded from whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus to the invasive infection caused by polio and Haemophilus influenzae B, which has significantly improved the timeliness and protection efficiency of vaccination.

It is worth noting that the combined vaccine is not simply mixed, and it is necessary to ensure the compatibility, safety, effectiveness and stability of each antigen component in the vaccine. For example, whether the protective efficacy of each antigen can be ensured after mixing is equivalent to that of the original corresponding vaccine; At the same time, it is necessary to effectively solve some potential problems, such as competition between antigens, expression inhibition, and the influence of inactive components on vaccines. In a sense, the higher the degree of combination, the more efficient the vaccine will be in building the baby’s immune barrier. The "14th Five-Year Plan for Bio-economic Development" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission also puts forward that "we should accelerate the iterative upgrading of vaccine R&D and production technology, develop multi-linked multivalent vaccines, develop new genetic engineering vaccines and therapeutic vaccines, and improve the ability to cope with major infectious diseases."

Not only that, the vaccine for the baby is also particular about the dose. The higher the injection dose of vaccine, the more intense the pain will be. According to international best practice, 0.5ml vaccination dose for infants can avoid the pain caused by high-dose injection and reduce the risk of aseptic abscess formation, muscle contracture and vascular contraction injury.

Recently, the reported incidence of "ancient" whooping cough has increased significantly. In addition to the protection efficiency and vaccination experience, it is more important to vaccinate the "Miao" as soon as possible and complete the whole vaccination according to the procedure. Only in this way can the baby be protected from the threat of whooping cough.

Looking back at the development of children’s vaccines, we can see the corner of the war between human science and technology and disease. Just like the "sugar pill" in many people’s memory has a new alternative, the weapon to protect children is still evolving and developing in a more effective and efficient direction, just as people are working hard now.