Vaccine schedule for babies: novelties 2017
Vaccines are one of the great advances in health. They are very important because they help to prevent diseases that can become deadly, especially in the youngest babies that have more risk. It is convenient to keep the vaccine schedule for babies up to date and follow the pediatrician's recommendations, so that your baby's immune system is prepared to protect him.
Every year, the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) publishes the vaccine schedule for children that are recommended for that year. This calendar can change slightly depending on each Autonomous Community because they can adapt it according to their criteria. Check the immunization schedule in your community.
Vaccine schedule for babies 2017 of the AEP
The vaccines of the schedule can be divided in:
- Systematic financed vaccines: include the official vaccines offered by the Autonomous Communities for free and all children receive.
- Unfinanced systematic vaccines: include the vaccines that are not publicly funded.
Novelties in the vaccine schedule for babies with respect to 2016
The vaccine schedule for children for 2017 includes some novelties regarding the vaccine schedule of 2016. Only minor adjustments have been made:
- The pneumococcal vaccine is included and it is given in three doses: at 2 months, at 4 and between 11 and 15 months.
- It is allowed to administer the fourth dose of DTPa vaccine at 6 years old with a dose of IPV.
- Varicella vaccine is established in two doses: at 12-15 months and at 2-4 years. Children who have not been vaccinated or who have not passed the disease should receive it at 12 years old.
- The vaccination margin of the third dose of the hexavalent vaccine has been extended from 12 months to 11-12 months. So the administration of this vaccine would be at 2 months, at 4 and between 11 and 12 months.
- How to administer the optional vaccine against Meningitis B has been changed from 3, 5, 7 and 13-15 months to 2, 4, 6, and 12-15 months.
The other recommended vaccines in the vaccines schedule for babies for 2017 have not been changed, the same guidelines are followed as in the previous year.
An important advance that is being carried out is the development of the vaccine to prevent bronchiolitis in children, mainly caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We hope this vaccine will be available as soon as possible so that we can avoid this respiratory infection that affects almost 80% of children in Spain.
Vaccines side effects
Vaccines are beneficial to both the recipient and the community as it makes difficult to spread the infectious agents that cause certain diseases.
If it is true that in some cases vaccines can cause some reaction in the baby, although they are usually mild. The most common effects are:
- Redness and pain in the area where the vaccine was received.
- A little bit of fever.
- General discomfort.
- More rarely they can provoke allergic reactions, although it is not usual.
It is very important to keep the vaccine schedule for babies up to date, always taking into account the recommendations of the pediatrician, who will know the timing for the application of each vaccine.
We hope this post has helped you!