Importance of Vaccines
The impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic in the XXI century brings up the specter of the lack of awareness that the populations have in relation to this issue .....
There are two measures in Public Health that have had an extraordinary impact on the health of the world's citizens over the years: the purification of water and vaccination. Drinking water we all know what it is, but we wonder what are vaccines?
Since ancient times, man sought to be resistant to infections. In ancient India and China, variolation is perhaps the first vaccine practice used successfully against a certain infection.
But scientific vaccinology was formed later with Pasteur who is considered the father of vaccinology, discovering in 1880 the vaccine against rabies.
Vaccines, in a simple way, we will say that they are biological drugs that, applied to healthy people, cause the generation of defenses (antibodies) that act to protect them against future contacts with the infectious agents against which we are vaccinated, avoiding infection or disease.
Vaccines are one of the health measures that has produced and continues to produce the greatest benefit to humanity, they prevent diseases that previously caused major epidemics, deaths and sequelae.
Vaccines benefit both vaccinated people and unvaccinated and susceptible people living in their environment (group immunity).
Through vaccines we have managed to eradicate smallpox, we are completing the eradication of poliomyelitis in the world, measles is no longer a frequent problem in our environment (frequent cause of encephalitis and mental handicaps only a few years ago), we do not have cases diphtheria and other diseases such as whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, meningococcal meningitis ... are being controlled.
Las vacunas, de una forma sencilla diremos que son medicamentos biológicos que aplicados a personas sanas provocan la generación de defensas (anticuerpos) que actúan protegiéndole ante futuros contactos con los agentes infecciosos contra los que nos vacunamos, evitando la infección o la enfermedad.
Mediante las vacunas hemos conseguido erradicar la viruela, estamos finalizando la erradicación de la poliomielitis en el mundo, el sarampión ha dejado de ser un problema frecuente en nuestro medio (causa frecuente de encefalitis y minusvalías psíquicas hace tan sólo unos años), no tenemos casos de difteria y otras enfermedades como la tos ferina, el tétanos, la hepatitis B, las meningitis meningocócicas...están siendo controladas.
The number of doses and the time interval between each one, that is, the vaccination regimen, is important in order to achieve a good response and greater vaccine efficacy.
To facilitate the correct application of vaccines in childhood, all countries have developed vaccination schedules: they are called childhood vaccination schedules. They define the vaccines, doses and ages of application.
But vaccinations do not end in the pediatric age, but epidemiological changes justify in many cases continuing them in adulthood, to avoid the re-emergence of diseases that seemed already controlled or to reinforce their immunogenic potency.
Although children are the ones who receive most of the vaccines, adults also need to protect themselves by vaccination against germs such as tetanus, diphtheria, pneumococcus, flu, rubella ... which are also the cause of diseases in adults, in many cases more serious than in children.
Does vaccination have risks?
We always have to bear in mind that "The risks of vaccination will always be lower than its benefits" and that "It is not better to suffer from the disease than to receive the vaccine: with vaccination we acquire protection by saving ourselves from the disease."
Vaccines are very effective and safe drugs. No advance in medicine has managed to save as many lives as vaccines, thanks to them the diseases that were perceived as threats cease to exist or are highly diminished.
Their safety is very high and they are the pharmaceutical products that are required to have the highest safety standards: all the vaccines currently administered have clearly demonstrated their efficacy and safety.
However, it is important to consider different issues in order to minimize the otherwise very low risk of side effects. These precautions should be taken into account and considered in the professional's assessment prior to any vaccination.
On some occasions some adverse reactions may appear such as: mild redness and pain at the injection site, fever or muscle aches.
On rare occasions there have been strong allergic reactions to any of the components of the vaccines.
As with all medicines, we have to bear in mind that there is a very small risk of a serious problem occurring, but this risk is always much lower than that derived from contracting the disease.
What reactions can a vaccine produce?
Most of the reactions that can occur after administration of a vaccine are mild and transient.
The most frequent reactions are:
Loss of appetite
Redness and swelling where it was injected.
Light fever
All these reactions usually disappear after two or three days. However, the advice is that if these symptoms persist after the administration of a vaccine, it is best to contact your pediatrician or closest health professional.
In our country, the reports on adverse events occurring after vaccination are rigorously examined. These reports generally come from healthcare professionals, people who have been vaccinated, parents, vaccine manufacturers, or third parties.