Department of Health
Health Information
Child Woman
Health Information >> Classified by Life Stages >> Child
* Classified by Life Stages

  Prevent Communicable Diseases, Get your Child Vaccinated Download

What is immunisation? Immunisation is the introduction of vaccines into our bodies so that antibodies will be produced to give us immunity against diseases. Vaccines can be given by mouth or by injection. Why do children need immunisation? The reason for immunisation is to decrease the chance of children from getting infectious diseases. Moreover, if the majority of people are immunised and obtain the immunity, infectious diseases will not be easily spread in the community. As a result, the health and lives of individuals and the community are protected. When should children be immunised? Immunisation should be started from birth because newborn babies have low resistance and are vulnerable to infectious diseases. As they grow up, for some vaccines, boosters should be given to maintain immunity. Why do children need boosters? Immunity produced by some vaccines decreases with time. Hence, booster doses are given at intervals in order to maintain immunity.
What vaccines should children receive and where can they get immunised? As recommended by the Scientific Committee on Vaccine-preventable Diseases under the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health (DH) in the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, children from birth to primary six should receive different types of vaccines and boosters to protect them from nine infectious diseases, namely, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella. Parents can bring their children from birth to five years of age to any Maternal and Child Health Centre of the DH for immunisation. Inoculators of the DH will visit primary schools to provide immunisation service to school children. Parents may also bring their children to private doctors for immunisation. Besides the vaccines included in the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, should children receive other vaccines? Besides those vaccines recommended by the Department of Health for inclusion in the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, some private doctors and hospitals may provide other vaccines to protect children from certain infectious diseases. These vaccines include influenza vaccine, chickenpox vaccine, Haemophilus influenza b vaccine, meningococcal vaccine, hepatitis A vaccine, Japanese encephalitis vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine. Parents should seek advice from private doctors before getting their children immunised. Can children with low-grade fever or running nose be immunised? In general, if the child has the above symptoms but appears normal such as eating, playing and sleeping well with normal bowel habit, the child is fit for immunisation. If parents are worried, vaccination may be postponed for a few days in order to have enough time to observe the child's condition.
Under what circumstances that immunisation may need to be withheld? Under certain circumstances, immunisation may need to be withheld or special arrangement is needed. If your child has any of the following condition(s), you should seek medical advice before getting him/her immunised. 1. Any immunodeficiency conditions: - Congenital immunodeficiency - Leukaemia, cancer - Chronic disease with long-term treatment, e.g. radiotherapy, chemotherapy and taking corticosteroids. 2. History of serious reaction to a pervious vaccine. 3. History of severe hypersensitivity to any antibiotic or substance. 4. Other conditions diagnosed by doctors to be unsuitable for immunisation. If the scheduled date of immunisation is passed or vaccine is missed, what should parents do? Parents should bring their child to Maternal and Child Health Centre or private practitioner's clinic to receive the missed vaccine as soon as possible. What will be the reactions after immunisation? How to manage these reactions? Reactions after immunisation are usually mild. These include fussiness, low-grade fever and slight swelling or soreness around the injection site. Parents may give the child paracetamol (do not use Aspirin), a medicine that helps to reduce pain and fever. Parents may also apply a cool towel onto the sore area to relieve discomfort.

 
  Back Back to Top  
 
 

Last revision date: 16 October 2009