Staying Healthy in Child Care - National Health and Medical ...

Immunisation
Childhood vaccination
The cheapest and most reliable method of preventing certain infections is immunisation.
Immunisation protects the person who has been immunised, children who are too young
to be vaccinated, and other people who have been vaccinated but did not respond to the
vaccine.
The principle of immunisation (or vaccination) is simple: it gives the body a memory of
infection without the risk of natural infection.
Ask all parents to provide a copy of their child’s vaccination records. If the child is not
vaccinated, tell the parents that their child will be excluded from care during outbreaks
of some infectious diseases (such as measles and whooping cough), even if their child is
well.
If the child is vaccinated, make sure that the child has received all the vaccinations
recommended for their age group.
Ways that you can encourage parents to vaccinate their children include:
• put up wall charts in rooms for under 2 year olds.
• send home first birthday MMR (measles–mumps–rubella) reminder cards.
• send home fourth birthday reminder cards for MMR, DTPa and Polio.
• each month review which children are behind in their vaccinations, update the
child’s records kept in the centre and send home a reminder card.
• put a computerised message at the bottom of receipts.
• when enrolling children, make a note in the director’s diary of when updates will
be needed.
The immunisations and the diseases they prevent
DTPa immunisation
Immunisation with DTPa vaccine is the best way to prevent diphtheria, tetanus and
pertussis. DTPa vaccine is three vaccines combined into one injection which is safe and
effective, and several injections are needed to provide good protection. DTPa is similar to
the previous DTP vaccine (DTPw) but contains only small parts of the pertussis bacteria
instead of whole bacteria. The possible general side effects of DTPa are much less
frequent than seen with the previous DTPw. Other side effects, such as convulsions or
collapse rarely occur.
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is caused by bacteria which are found in the mouth, throat and nose of an
infected person. Diphtheria can cause a membrane to grow around the inside of the
throat, which can lead to difficulty in swallowing, breathlessness and suffocation. A
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