Regular vaccinations for infants, children, and adolescents are those vaccinations that a child should routinely receive according to the vaccination recommendations of the Permanent Vaccination Commission of the Robert Koch Institute (STIKO).
The vaccinations
According to the currently valid recommendations of the STIKO, recommended vaccinations for infants (this also applies to breastfed infants) should be given as early as possible and basic immunizations should be completed no later than the age of 14 months (or 23 months for MMR, varicella):
- Diphtheria (croup)
- Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) – bacterium that commonly causes meningitis (meningitis) and epiglottitis (laryngitis)
- Hepatitis B (liver inflammation).
- Morbilli (measles)
- Meningococcus C – bacterium that often leads to meningitis and other serious infections.
- Parotitis epidemica (mumps)
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Pneumococcus
- Poliomyelitis (polio)
- Rubella (German measles)
- Rotaviruses
- Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) – bacterium that commonly leads to pneumonia (pneumonia), meningitis, and infections of the eyes and ears
- Tetanus (tetanus).
- Varicella (chickenpox)
Contraindications
- Children, adolescents, and adults with acute severe illness should not be vaccinated until they have recovered.
- Individuals who react with anaphylactic symptoms after oral ingestion of chicken egg white should not be vaccinated with vaccines containing chicken egg white (yellow fever, influenza vaccine).
- In the case of congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, the physician treating the immunodeficiency should be consulted before vaccination with a live vaccine.
Below is a presentation of “false contraindication”, that is, in such cases could be vaccinated (below is a selection of them):
- Banal infections, even if accompanied by subfebrile temperatures (< 38.5 °C),
- Possible contact of the person to be felt with people with contagious diseases,
- Seizures in the family
- History of febrile seizures (medical history).
- Eczema and other dermatoses (skin diseases).
- Treatment with antibiotics or low doses of corticosteroids.
- Congenital or acquired immunodeficiencies when vaccinated with inactivated vaccines.
- Neonatal icterus (neonatal jaundice).
- Prematurity
- Breastfed infants
Today there is the possibility of carrying out combination vaccinations, so that children are effectively protected against infectious diseases with relatively few vaccinations. The six-vaccination protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B. The current reduced “2+1 schedule” for the six-vaccination schedule is as follows: At 8 weeks of age, the vaccination series is started and subsequent vaccinations are given at the recommended times at 4 and 11 months of age. A minimum interval of 6 months should be observed between the 2nd and 3rd vaccination doses. In infants, adsorbate vaccines (DTaP) to be administered should be administered i.m. (intramuscularly) into the vastus lateralis muscle instead of the deltoid muscle. This leads to better tolerability and reactogenicity. The latter is probably due to the fact that vaccinations into the upper arm lead to a higher percentage of subcutaneous vaccinations.Note: The vastus lateralis muscle is a thigh muscle that forms the lateral part of the quadriceps femoris muscle. The recommended vaccinations in childhood and adolescence activate the defense system against the invading infectious agents, thus protecting the vaccinated person from the disease. In addition, individual vaccination also protects the general public, since a sufficiently high proportion of vaccinated persons in the population results in collective protection (so-called herd immunity). The pediatrician or family doctor usually carries out the regular vaccinations. The regular vaccinations for infants, children and adolescents are paid for by the statutory health insurance funds.
