Table of Contents:
- Vaccination- How the Process has Evolved
- Is Vaccination safe?
- Vaccination Can Save your Life
- Vaccination Can Save You Time and Money
- Vaccination Can Prevent Some Cancers
- What is EPI-Expanded Program of Immunization?
- Summary
- References
Vaccination- How the Process has Evolved:
Vaccination is the administration of vaccine for prevention against diseases caused by bacteria or viruses. This concept has known to be evolving evolve since 200BC. It has been the wish of many to stop a dangerous event from happening in the first place. In the field of medicine and treating patients from diseases, the principle was to intentionally expose a healthy individual to bacteria/virus and in its response the body developed chemicals(antibodies) that saved from future disease from the same virus. The first successful vaccine was developed in 1796 by Edward Jenner. It was against smallpox virus. This virus alone was responsible for 300 million deaths in the 20th century. Due to Edward ‘s discovery, smallpox has been completely eradicated from human population. It is the only disease that has been eradicated completely.
With in understanding about vaccination, by early 1950s, the polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk. The only 2 countries left with polio cases are Afghanistan and Pakistan. Even with proper campaigns and international support in the form of funding for polio eradication programs, Pakistan has been unable to eradicate this disease. A lack of awareness regarding the vaccine’s safety is one of the main concerns of the population.
Is Vaccination Safe?
Vaccination is safe as long as it is administered by trained professionals. It is important that vaccine is given by its designated route of administration. If a vaccine is supposed to be given oral, it should not be given by an injection. Vaccines can react but most of the vaccines are approved after thorough investigation and research. So there is nothing to worry about the quality of vaccines. All vaccines in use in Pakistan are upto the required standards.
Vaccination Can Save your Life:
Vaccination can save a person’s life in many events. In many instances, the purpose of Vaccination is to save a person’s life. One good example is of Tetanus shot. It is given after road traffic accidents or mostly to children who get wounded or scratches while playing. In such an event, bacteria from soil and environment contaminate the wound. Tetanus vaccine prevents from this deadly infection that can kill a person in days or weeks, in this all the muscles in person’s body become stiff. When the muscles required for respiration are affected by the infection, person dies.
Vaccination can also save a person from getting cancer in some cases, this is described in detail ahead.
The EPI program has contributed much in saving children from many deadly diseases. However, outbreaks of such diseases are still recorded in the healthcare setup mostly due to parent’s negligence.
Vaccination Can Save you Money and Time:
Vaccinations can save you from diseases directly. Indirectly, it can save one from frequent hospital visits, treatment and interventions. Most of the treatments always come with side effects and some diseases take a long time to recover making the patient to stay in hospital for weeks or months even. The hospital environment is not safe as it is the source of many bacteria and their infections. Frequent hospital visits can also cause diseases in addition to pre existing ones. For this reason, it is also advisable to avoid frequent hospital visits of children or old people.
Hospital treatments are costly. It is an unnecessary burden on your pocket if you can simply avoid all of the heavy bills with a single injection of vaccine. The bacteria nowadays are becoming resistant to older treatment, patients can only be cured with newer, stronger medicines. These medicines are mostly more expensive than other drugs.
Vaccination can Prevent some Cancers:
Cancer is a disease that affects a person physically, mentally and financially as well. It also affects a patient’s family. The whole process of cancer treatment is a rough and tough one. In some cases, this can be avoided by vaccination. Vaccination against many viruses such as Hepatitis B Virus, Human Papilloma Virus and Herpes Virus can save from their infection. These viruses are notorious to cause cancers. Their infection causes our cells to change configuration transforming into cancer cells.
Human Papilloma Virus causes cervical cancer in females. It is advisable for every young female individual to get herself vaccinated for Human Papilloma Virus by HPV vaccine before marriage. Hepatitis B Virus causes hepatitis B which can progress to Hepatocellular carcinoma or simply Hepatic cancer. The vaccine for Hepatitis B Virus is present that can help in preventing Hepatic cancer.
What is EPI?
EPI is expanded program of immunization. It is a vaccination schedule based on WHO’s recommendations. The sole and primary target of this program is infants and newborns. This is important as to ensure that there is less chances of a child to acquire a disease in his childhood. Also Babies are predisposed to harmful infections since they have a weak immune system that is still adapting to the new environment. Vaccination programs like EPI have reduced infant mortality rate in this way. It is free of cost and administered in designated hospitals and centers throughout the country.
EPI program provides protection against Tuberculosis TB, Polio, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Hepatitis B, Pertussis, Pneumonia, Diarrhea and Meningitis.
Summary:
Vaccination has played an important role in decreasing the burden of patients on hospitals. It helps doctors focus more on diseases that are not prevented by vaccination. Vaccination a process due to which we were able to completely eradicate Smallpox from human population, doctors and health systems are working hard to eradicate polio from the world. Unluckily, we are one of the 3 countries in the world who still have recorded polio cases after 2022. Vaccination is safe and very convenient. It is a good form of prevention from many life threatening diseases. Vaccination is cost effective and time saving as well. It stops diseases from occuring in the first place, this reduces the need to visit the hospital. Frequent visits to hospitals are also dangerous as hospitals are also reservoirs of many diseases. It is advisable to get yourself vaccinated and also advise others you know.
References:
- https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/a-brief-history-of-vaccination
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer
- https://www.emro.who.int/pak/programmes/expanded-programme-on-immunization.html
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