Introduction
For the first year of each baby’s life, a total of six vaccinations are recommended by the permanent vaccination commission of the Robert Koch Institute. The vaccinations consist of a six-times vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, the pathogens causing meningitis and hepatitis B, as well as the vaccines against peumococcus and rotaviruses. In this way an immunity against pathogens is achieved, which could particularly harm the child in its first months of life.
The frequency of vaccinations decreases with increasing age. In general, the vaccines are very well tolerated and do not cause long-term damage. Physical reactions can occur especially after multiple vaccinations or live vaccines.
These include fever, redness and swelling as well as pain at the injection site. The side effects usually subside after a few days. Fever is often observed in connection with a vaccination against pneumococcus. Prophylactic administration of suppositories containing the active ingredient paracetamol can prevent the fever.
Definition
After a vaccination with the five- or sixfold vaccine and a simultaneous vaccination against pneumococcus, an increased body temperature occurs in 20 to 30 percent of cases. The fever can reach a temperature of up to 39°C. In some children, the temperature lasts for several days before it drops back to normal.
The fever represents a physiological, i.e. a healthy physical reaction of the body. A vaccine is intended to induce immunity to a certain pathogen. For this purpose, the body is supplied with a small, harmless amount of a so-called antigen.
The natural reaction of the body consists in the activation of the immune system and its cells. Specific antibodies are formed that protect against infections with the pathogen. In some cases, this can provoke mild symptoms of disease without an actual infection being present. A possible symptom is fever.
When does the fever set in after vaccination?
In many children, so-called vaccination reactions occur after vaccinations. This includes light fever, which usually sets in after 6-8 hours. It can take up to three days for the fever to subside.
However, this reaction of the body is no cause for concern, but merely shows that the immune system is activated and the body is “processing” the vaccination. With live vaccines, the reaction can also occur later, between the 7th and 14th day after vaccination, and corresponds to the natural incubation period of the pathogen. High fever above 39°C occurs in less than 2% of cases with the vaccines used today.
