Something about vaccine preventable diseases

Those caring for children are often at their wits' end when it comes to knowing when to give which vaccine, what the side-effects of these vaccines are, what to do if one misses a vaccination appointment, and so on and so forth.

In this post, I am going to talk a little bit about vaccines, and expand the concept to include other important life-habits that work just like vaccination, but without the pain, when it comes to preventing disease.

When we talk about immunisation, we are talking about giving preventive vaccines to our loved ones to avoid the occurrence of diseases. The problem is that no vaccine is one hundred percent effective in preventing the occurrence of the disease it is supposed to prevent. However, many modern vaccines do come close enough to the ideal, in that, they are effective in more than 95% of those vaccinated. 

Vaccines are of several kinds, but the most useful  classification is to divide them into those that prevent life-threatening illnesses and those that prevent non-life-threatening diseases. The former category includes vaccines against major killers of the 20th Century and before such as poliomyelitis, measles, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough and tuberculosis. To this may be added the small pox vaccine, which is no longer given now as the disease has become "extinct", and the hepatitis B vaccine, though the last one kills the affected persons in just about 1-2% of the cases. 

The latter category includes vaccines against different illnesses: these are Hepatitis A, Chicken Pox, the rotavirus, influenza viruses, and some others. 

Then there are vaccines against illnesses that are geographically limited but serious illnesses nevertheless; many such vaccines are in the list of vaccines that need to be given to travellers within that country. These include the vaccines against Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever etc.

Next in the category of vaccines are simple preventive medicines that help prevent diseases like malaria. If you are travelling to a malaria-infested country like India, Bangladesh, or any tropical country in Africa or Asia, you should seek advice on taking medicines starting one week before entering that country and should continue ingesting these until 4 weeks after you have left that country.

Good hand washing, eating hygienic food and basic personal cleanliness are also "vaccines" that help prevent water and food-borne illnesses; in the same way, covering one's nose and mouth while among huge crowds is a simple preventive step to avoid air-borne diseases to some extent. 

Some advice on discipline

This is an excerpt from my book CHILD CARE: From Birth to Eighteen.

Here are some tips on how to discipline your children:

1. If she misbehaves at the dinner table, declare a time-out for her, ask her politely to leave the table and sit against a wall or a corner with her back towards you. Deduct the time-out from the time allotted to her for the meal.
2. If she breaks an object willfully, restrict her from approaching you for a specific time-period.
3. If she shouts back at you or argues with you impolitely, tell her that she may not speak with you for a specific time-period and quarantine her from the living/sitting room area and ask her to study something and “give you her lessons” after a certain time.
4. Privileges like watching a favourite TV program, eating a favourite snack, doing a favourite activity, going out on a Sunday evening, getting a hug when she returns from school, buying her a favourite dress, letting her go “down” in the compound to play, and many more can all be restricted depending upon the situation and upon the consensus between both the parents.
5. Do not shout, make angry faces, physically beat or become violent while punishing. It encourages rebellion and aggressiveness in the child. Also, it does nothing to reduce the occurrence of the same mistake again. In fact, the child become “immune” to repeated corporeal punishment and a stage is reached where the parent gets “tired” of punishing and the child mocks him/her and challenges him/her to “do what you want”.
6. As far as possible, explain why your child is being punished in easy-to-understand language and follow up with the information of what the child could have done/could do to avoid the occurrence/ prevent repetition of the mistake.
7. Be role models yourself and behave in an exemplary way so that the child hesitates to do what she would otherwise have done.
8. Be consistent in punishing and as far as possible, be both parents available while deciding on the quantum and nature of the punishment.
9. Never issue empty threats like “Let your dad come and then we will see” if you do not intend to follow up on your threats. Else, the child will lose faith in you and start making fun of you.

Keeping Children Safe

Keeping children safe in the home is one of the most important jobs for a parent or grandparent. Children are by nature exploratory. They will look in cabinets, open doors and put anything in their mouths. There are ways to protect children in the home from getting into hazardous substances.


Cleaning products are the easiest chemicals in the home to keep out of the reach of children. Every homeowner has some type of cleaning solution, but that does not mean it should be kept around his or her child. Cleaning products such as Clorox, dish detergent and laundry detergent should be kept in a high cabinet, preferably one that has a lock of some sort on it. There are numerous types of locks that parents can get at any hardware store to put on a cabinet. The locks are childproof and will not allow children to open the door. Cleaning supplies should never be kept with other household objects that the child is allowed to play with. Childsafe.com gives parents tips and ideas on how to keep all hazardous materials out of the reach of children. They suggest that if locks cannot be placed on cabinets and drawers, then the bottles that chemicals come in should be sealed with a childproof lid.


Loose insulation in homes is a major hazard for not only children, but all family members. Exposure to the poisonous asbestos fibers is the only known cause of mesothelioma cancer, a disease that attacks the lining of the body’s major organs. A mesothelioma prognosis is rather grim, usually giving only one or two years of survival. For this reason, older homes should have the insulation replaced every few years so that there is little asbestos build-up.


Cleaning products are not the only hazardous materials that children can come in contact with. Medications need to be properly stored as well. Children should not be told that vitamins or medicines are candy. This will give them the idea that all medicines are candy. Do not store medicines in a bottle that resembles a candy bottle. Always have a childproof lid on any medications in the home. Medicines that adults take on a daily basis need to be kept in a locked medicine cabinet, out of the reach of children. Even medicines that are for children can cause poisoning. It is easy for children to overdose on medications that they can get their hands on easily.


Keeping children away from chemicals in the home is easy to do. Simply keep substances locked up and on a high shelf so that children cannot reach them.

The above is a guest post by Jillian S. McKee of http://www.childsafe.com/

How to give medicines to a child

Several of my patients used to come back to me within a day or two of the consultation, complaining the child wasn't taking the medicine willingly, and had to be forced to take it, whereupon, it so happened that the child cried and vomitted out the medicine along with his/her previous meal. I made it a part of my consultation, therefore, to advise the parent/care-giver on how to give the medicine to a sick, unwilling, often hungry and irritable child. Let me share these tips with you.


The first thing to remember is that the sick child is often an unco-operative subject. It is, therefore, worthwhile to taste a little of each of the medicines you are going to give her and decide which of the medicines is the most bitter, which is less so, and which is definitely palatable. If possible, tell your pediatrician at the outset to choose palatable medicines if you know your child is fussy about this aspect of treatment. Often, however, the doctor is helpless as the medicine in question does not come in a more palatable form, and is irreplaceable in the prescription. Your doctor may choose to give one or more medicines in another, less troublesome, formulation: some medicines can be given as rectal suppositories, for example. This is a form of medicine that looks like a long-nosed bullet. It has to be inserted from the anal side, and it starts to work within 5-10 minutes after administration. Paracetamol is often available as rectal suppositories.


There are several oral formulations, such as suspensions (they come as a powder in a bottle, and the patient has to add water to the bottle up to a certain mark on the bottle. Once made in this form, the medicine needs to be stored in a cool dark place, or preferably, in a refrigerator.), syrups, tablets, drops, etc.


Okay, so now you know the medicine. How do you give it? The first thing to know is that the younger the babv, the more it will depend upon or trust the care-giver. Your attitude should always be that of a smiling and encouraging elder. Never get annoyed or frustrated as that can directly affect the baby's willingness to open its mouth to swallow the medicine, regardless of its taste! If the baby just keeps rolling the medicine in its mouth without swallowing it, use a dropper to slowly give the medicine the next time. You may, if needed, hold the baby's jaws open with your thumb and first finger and wait till the medicine is properly swallowed. DO NOT CLOSE THE BABY'S NOSE TO AID THE SWALLOWING. This can prove to be a dangerous tactic!


For an older child, the best posture to give the medicine is with her sitting upright. This prevents irritation by the medicine of the back of the throat, allows gravity to assist in swallowing the medicine downward, and removes the anxiety that older children feel when they are forced to lie down to swallow the medicine.


It may be worthwhile to make the child drink a little water BEFORE being given the medicine. This will definitely help her retain the medicine after she has managed to swaow the medicine. This is very useful to give tablets in older children.