Vaccination Guidelines 3rd Edition

Vaccines in the national immunization program catalog should be received according to age requirements. Non-immunization program vaccines are selected based on individual age, basic medical history, and daily exposure risks. There is no requirement that "all non-program vaccines must be filled", and there is no need to listen to rumors and avoid all vaccines indiscriminately. If you are unsure, first refer to the on-site evaluation of medical staff at the vaccination site. Don’t just rely on confusing posts on the Internet.

Last week, I was doing an education at the community vaccination site downstairs. I met an aunt in her sixties, holding a short video on her phone, arguing with the nurse until her face turned red. She said that the Internet said that all vaccines have side effects, and that her grandson refused to take the chickenpox vaccine. The nurse was not in a hurry, so she took out the community registration book from last month and showed it to her: there were three children who got chickenpox last month, all of whom were not vaccinated. The most serious one was hospitalized for a week, and the medical expenses alone cost less than 5,000 yuan, which is dozens of times more expensive than the chickenpox vaccine, which costs more than 100 yuan. The aunt fell silent on the spot and brought her grandson for a beating in the afternoon.

In fact, there has never been any controversy about vaccination. Even though the third edition of the guidelines has been updated for almost half a year, many people are still unsure. Most researchers in the field of public health tend to "cover as many non-planned vaccines as the economy allows." This is supported by data: last year's influenza surveillance data from a street in Beijing showed that the hospitalization rate for severe illness among elderly people over 60 years old who received the influenza vaccine was 87% lower than that of the unvaccinated population. After the popularization of HPV vaccination, the high-risk HPV infection rate among domestic women aged 15-24 dropped by nearly 20 percentage points in four years. These are real benefits. However, there are also many clinicians from the allergy and immunology departments who will remind everyone not to blindly follow the trend - I used to know a junior high school student with a history of severe gentamicin allergy. He developed systemic urticaria after receiving the meningococcal meningococcal vaccine, which disappeared for half a month. People with such immune deficiencies and a history of severe allergies must be evaluated in advance for any vaccine they receive, and they must not just watch others take it.

Oh, by the way, a lot of people are concerned about the question of "five combination vaccines or free single vaccine". They have been arguing for almost ten years and there is still no standard answer. A friend of mine spent more than 2,000 to get 5 injections for his child, and only had to go to the hospital 4 times before and after. For a two-income family with a daily income of 996, the time cost saved is really worth the money of the vaccine. There are also colleagues who specifically choose free single vaccines, saying that these vaccines have been used for decades, hundreds of millions of people have used them, and the safety data is very clear. They usually have a lot of time, so it doesn’t matter if they make more trips. There is nothing wrong with both options. There is really no need to listen to the moral kidnapping on the Internet that "it is irresponsible not to give your child five-year-old vaccination." The one that suits your family's situation is the best.

There are also many people who exaggerate the taboos after vaccination. When I took the second shot of the herpes zoster vaccine last year, my arm hurt for three days. It was difficult to lift my arm to get the express delivery. I was so scared that I thought something was wrong. After asking the nurse, I found out that it was a normal cellular immune response. I didn’t even need to take antipyretics. I was fine on the fourth day. A friend of mine went to drink ice beer on the same day after getting the rabies vaccine. He suffered from diarrhea for two days, and everyone said that the vaccine had side effects. Finally, it was found out that the cause was caused by drinking too much ice beer. In fact, the third edition of the guide has long deleted those messy taboo requirements. As long as you eat things you are not allergic to, eat hot pot after exercise, and take a shower, don’t deliberately stay up late to make yourself uncomfortable. If the fever continues to exceed 38.5°C, or local redness and swelling persist for more than 24 hours, it is not too late to go to the hospital for examination.

Oh, by the way, some people asked me if I should get a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine if I had the sun before. The current recommendation in the third edition of the guide is that vaccination is still recommended for elderly people with underlying diseases, people who often go to high-exposure places such as hospitals and shopping malls, and if it has been more than 6 months since the last infection or vaccination. If you usually work from home and cannot go out a few times in half a year, and your physical fitness is good, no one will force you to take vaccination if you don’t want to. It all depends on your own needs.

When I went to the vaccination site yesterday, I saw a nurse writing out a vaccination order for an old man in his 70s. She circled three times the time of the next pneumonia vaccine with a red marker, and also put a small cartoon sticker on it to avoid confusing the elderly person. In fact, there are so many black and white standards. In the final analysis, the vaccine is a tool for health insurance. Don’t deify it, and don’t demonize it. Just choose according to your own situation. If you are really unsure, asking the doctor at the vaccination site will be more effective than watching 10 sensational short videos.