2024-04-12 08:01:42
in 2019 Lithuania survived a vaccination-rates-in-zwolle-and-the-netherlands-importance-of-increasing-vaccination-rates-for-public-health/” title=”Worrying Decline in Vaccination Rates in Zwolle and the Netherlands: Importance of Increasing Vaccination Rates for Public Health”>measles outbreak. Doctors then hoped that the painful lesson would become a warning signal to the population. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
It is estimated that about 7.5 thousand people remain without measles vaccination every year. of children. A favorable environment for the spread of infection is formed.
“We see that the volume of vaccination continues to decrease, we are starting to encounter children in the hospital, with severe clinical cases, which we have not seen for many years. It is clear that the situation has not changed much (…) There are serious infectious diseases that, in the worst case, can result in death, sometimes disability, and other negative effects on the health of the child and the entire family,” the doctor warned.
I. Ivaškevičienė emphasized that whooping cough is a serious concern – the infection is also called the “100-day disease”.
“What is particularly worrying is that there is a very serious patient with whooping cough in the intensive care unit. The situation speaks for itself. Obviously, the condition is extremely difficult. We haven’t seen such cases for many years, and now they are coming back,” noted I. Ivaškevičienė.
The doctor said that at an international congress for infectious diseases, she unexpectedly met a pediatric intensive care doctor.
“During my career, I’ve seen so many deaths of children and I’ve seen how things change when they’re vaccinated. I saw the value of vaccinations and how children’s lives can change”, I. Ivaškevičienė recalled the doctor’s words that inspired her.
The disease can last for 100 days
According to the vaccination calendar, children in Lithuania are vaccinated against whooping cough from the age of 2 months. Babies aged 12-15 months are vaccinated against measles.
This means that babies under one year old are especially susceptible to measles infection.
“It is very important that all family members are vaccinated. If pregnancy is planned, it would be good for the potential future mother to know her immune status,” said I. Ivaškevičienė.
Whooping cough is an acute infectious respiratory disease characterized by spasmodic coughing fits. The disease spreads very quickly during close contact, when a person coughs and sneezes. One person with whooping cough can infect 12-15 people.
According to I. Ivaškevičienė, “classic” whooping cough is typical for young children.
“Initially there may be non-specific symptoms reminiscent of an acute upper respiratory tract infection, but then a paroxysmal cough begins.
It can be provoked by anything: positive emotions, laughter, sadness, tears, physical exertion, excitement; a stranger entered the room and this can provoke a coughing fit”, explained I. Ivaškevičienė.
She also named a distinctive feature of whooping cough – at the end of a coughing fit, children inhale a high-pitched wheeze.
“If you’ve heard the cough I describe, there’s a very good chance it’s whooping cough.” Of course, it needs to be diagnosed by a specialist. This is how unvaccinated children get sick,” said the doctor.
She went on to say that teenagers vaccinated in infancy can get pertussis. Then the patient is bothered by the usual cough. The worst thing is that a sick teenager can infect others.
“The most dangerous thing is that they can infect other susceptible small children (…) Most often, small babies are infected by family members – mothers, fathers or older brothers and sisters”, said I. Ivaškevičienė.
Whooping cough is especially dangerous for babies under 6 months of age. The risk of death then reaches 3 percent.
“Not so long ago, deaths from pertussis were registered in Lithuania,” said I. Ivaškevičienė.
Young babies are sick differently and whooping cough is much more difficult to recognize.
The doctor also shared the recent experience of an adult with whooping cough. Intense coughing attacks were crowned with vomiting, and the patient worked from home.
“A man is sitting at a computer with a bowl next to him. You never know when the next attack will come.
Whooping cough can last for 100 days. It was once called the 100-day disease. Of course, it is individual, for some it is even shorter”, explained I. Ivaškevičienė.
A whole bunch of symptoms
A child with measles also has a cough, but a textbook case of infection is also accompanied by fever, runny nose, diarrhea and conjunctivitis, where the eyes are red and itchy.
“All that (symptoms, ed.) bouquet is crowned by a rash, which is characterized by phasing. The rash starts on the upper part of the body, usually behind the ears, the face, and then the rash subsides little by little,” said I. Ivaškevičienė.
Measles-specific complications: otitis, bronchitis, laryngitis, measles pneumonia, measles meningitis or encephalitis.
The doctor noticed that children usually hesitate to vaccinate because they doubt the safety of vaccines.
“Side reactions due to vaccines are extremely rare in Lithuania. Sometimes there are opinions that maybe doctors are hiding, there is a lot of paperwork, they don’t register (side effects, ed.).
This is against the ethics of medical work. But if we theoretically consider such a possibility, there is always a possibility for the patient himself or his parents to do this (to report adverse effects of vaccinations, ed.)”, said I. Ivaškevičienė.
She added that the vaccines used in Lithuania are safe, time-tested, and their possible side effects are well described.
2024-04-12 08:01:42