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Prevention vs. Fear: New infant vaccine program offered, but concerns
caused by MMR make parents skeptical
Health | 05.10.12 | 11:30
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
Beginning this month infants in Armenia up to age 3-months are being
offered free vaccination against a virus which is the main cause of
diarrhea among children up to five years old.
But the challenge for professionals implementing the campaign - led by
UNICEF - is to convince parents that not only is the vaccine against
rotavirus effective, it is also safe.
Reactions from other sorts of vaccines have left some parents
skeptical. Gayane Sahakyan, head of the Ministry of Health's
immune-preventive national program says parents should take advantage
of the opportunity for free prevention.
`The most that can happen is that the child might run a slight fever
during the post-vaccination week, vomiting and diarrhea,' she told
ArmeniaNow. `It's an expected reaction and no need to worry, the
reaction proves that the vaccine is effective.'
However some parents remain unconvinced, following another program
that offered vaccination - MMR - which offered prevention from
measles, mumps, rubella.
`My son took the MMR vaccine rather badly, the reaction to the vaccine
was severe -- high fever, weakness -- I thought I had killed my
child,' says Ira Poghosyan form Yerevan, whose son is now a year old.
`The MMR campaign had a controversial response world-wide, including
Armenia,' says UNICEF Armenia representative Emil Sahakyan. `But in
the 21st century children should not die because they have been denied
vaccination.'
Sahakyan says there should be no concerns over the quality of the
vaccines: Armenia imports high-quality vaccines, only from Europe.
They are preserved in proper conditions, the chances of them being old
and expired is zero.
Karine Saribekyan, heading the ministry's department for mother and
child healthcare, urges parents not to panic and take their children
for the diarrhea vaccination. It's easy on the body, doesn't have
contraindications, she says. The vaccine is given in form of nasal
drops.
According to Saribekyan, 40 percent of diarrhea among children is
caused by rotavirus, as confirmed in the ministry's own research.
`If almost half the cases of diarrhea are caused by that virus, why
not vaccinate to prevent? Every child between 0-5 years old suffers
from diarrhea at least once a year, which can have consequences, in
most severe cases even be lethal,' Saribekyan says.
Karine Maghakyan, 30, mother of a one-year-old and a three-year-old,
says her children have not received any vaccine. She says she knows
it's a risky step, but thinks the risk of vaccination is also high, so
the family decided against vaccination.
Many among parents say there have been cases when children died of
vaccination, which is the reason they avoid it now.
Gayane Sahakyan says 95 percent of children in Armenia get
vaccination. The other five percent either have contraindication or
refuse, or are not in the country.
`We have not had any fatalities from vaccination. There have been
coincidences when the child died the next day after the vaccination,
but it was not the cause at all: the forensic examination and the
symptoms the parents described pointed to other causes.
Post-vaccination monitoring has been carried out since 2008 and no
unexpected reaction has been registered,' Sahakyan says.
She says each child's body has an individual reaction to the vaccine:
one can run a 38 C (100.4F) fever and not even feel it, for another
37C (98.6F) might feel really high.
Rotavirus penetrates into the membrane of the digestive tract mainly
damaging the child's small intestine. Experts say vaccination will be
done by two dosages, one to 6 week-old children and the second to 12
week-old children.
The vaccine is provided to Armenia by Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunization (GAVI) through UNICEF. The government of Armenia will
co-fund the project until 2016, and after that it'll become the sole
financer, responsible for the acquisition of the vaccines. For this
year's portion of vaccines GAVI has paid $300,000 and the government
covered $67,000.
From: A. Papazian
caused by MMR make parents skeptical
Health | 05.10.12 | 11:30
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
Beginning this month infants in Armenia up to age 3-months are being
offered free vaccination against a virus which is the main cause of
diarrhea among children up to five years old.
But the challenge for professionals implementing the campaign - led by
UNICEF - is to convince parents that not only is the vaccine against
rotavirus effective, it is also safe.
Reactions from other sorts of vaccines have left some parents
skeptical. Gayane Sahakyan, head of the Ministry of Health's
immune-preventive national program says parents should take advantage
of the opportunity for free prevention.
`The most that can happen is that the child might run a slight fever
during the post-vaccination week, vomiting and diarrhea,' she told
ArmeniaNow. `It's an expected reaction and no need to worry, the
reaction proves that the vaccine is effective.'
However some parents remain unconvinced, following another program
that offered vaccination - MMR - which offered prevention from
measles, mumps, rubella.
`My son took the MMR vaccine rather badly, the reaction to the vaccine
was severe -- high fever, weakness -- I thought I had killed my
child,' says Ira Poghosyan form Yerevan, whose son is now a year old.
`The MMR campaign had a controversial response world-wide, including
Armenia,' says UNICEF Armenia representative Emil Sahakyan. `But in
the 21st century children should not die because they have been denied
vaccination.'
Sahakyan says there should be no concerns over the quality of the
vaccines: Armenia imports high-quality vaccines, only from Europe.
They are preserved in proper conditions, the chances of them being old
and expired is zero.
Karine Saribekyan, heading the ministry's department for mother and
child healthcare, urges parents not to panic and take their children
for the diarrhea vaccination. It's easy on the body, doesn't have
contraindications, she says. The vaccine is given in form of nasal
drops.
According to Saribekyan, 40 percent of diarrhea among children is
caused by rotavirus, as confirmed in the ministry's own research.
`If almost half the cases of diarrhea are caused by that virus, why
not vaccinate to prevent? Every child between 0-5 years old suffers
from diarrhea at least once a year, which can have consequences, in
most severe cases even be lethal,' Saribekyan says.
Karine Maghakyan, 30, mother of a one-year-old and a three-year-old,
says her children have not received any vaccine. She says she knows
it's a risky step, but thinks the risk of vaccination is also high, so
the family decided against vaccination.
Many among parents say there have been cases when children died of
vaccination, which is the reason they avoid it now.
Gayane Sahakyan says 95 percent of children in Armenia get
vaccination. The other five percent either have contraindication or
refuse, or are not in the country.
`We have not had any fatalities from vaccination. There have been
coincidences when the child died the next day after the vaccination,
but it was not the cause at all: the forensic examination and the
symptoms the parents described pointed to other causes.
Post-vaccination monitoring has been carried out since 2008 and no
unexpected reaction has been registered,' Sahakyan says.
She says each child's body has an individual reaction to the vaccine:
one can run a 38 C (100.4F) fever and not even feel it, for another
37C (98.6F) might feel really high.
Rotavirus penetrates into the membrane of the digestive tract mainly
damaging the child's small intestine. Experts say vaccination will be
done by two dosages, one to 6 week-old children and the second to 12
week-old children.
The vaccine is provided to Armenia by Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunization (GAVI) through UNICEF. The government of Armenia will
co-fund the project until 2016, and after that it'll become the sole
financer, responsible for the acquisition of the vaccines. For this
year's portion of vaccines GAVI has paid $300,000 and the government
covered $67,000.
From: A. Papazian