Among vaccinations included in compulsory vaccination of young children, a special place is given to the DTP vaccine (adsorbed pertussis-diphtheria-tetanus). This is a very useful vaccine that allows you to acquire a stable immunity from very dangerous diseases, especially unwanted ones in the first year of life, but it differs in that it is after this vaccination that all kinds of complications are most likely. In particular, fever after vaccination with DTP is very likely, and some doctors even recommend giving the child an antipyretic immediately after vaccination to reduce the risk of fever. Most likely, this measure is excessive, but if the temperature rises after the first immunization, then it has the right to exist. The temperature can rise both slightly and quite seriously, and in this case it is necessary to act on the basis of the baby’s well-being: if the temperature rises within 38.5 degrees, and the child feels normal and does not show signs of anxiety, then it is not necessary to knock it down, but if baby is bad, then take an antipyretic is necessary.
The reaction to DTP vaccination and the consequences of it are most often associated with individual intolerance to the vaccine itself, therefore, if the child has allergic reactions, then it is possible to drink a course of antihistamines two or three days before the vaccination - this will minimize the risk of possible complications . It should be noted that this must be agreed with a competent specialist who can correctly choose the safe drug, dosage and schedule.
The baby’s most likely reaction to a vaccine such as DTP vaccine is drowsiness. Most likely, the child will fall asleep on the way home and will sleep longer than usual, and next time he will want to sleep earlier than usual. There is nothing wrong with that - in a day or two everything will normalize, and no measures should be taken. In this case, you just need to unobtrusively monitor the temperature of the baby, which can rise at any time. It also happens that the child, on the contrary, becomes more restless and loses his appetite, gastrointestinal manifestations in the form of diarrhea and vomiting are also possible.
Also, DTP vaccination can be accompanied by a local reaction of varying severity, from slight swelling and redness to a fairly large-scale inflammatory process, which can also be accompanied by an increase in temperature. This is usually associated with getting into the wound of the infection either during or immediately after vaccination, or individual intolerance to the drug. In this case, it is necessary to consult a doctor, otherwise the process can take on alarming proportions.
I must say, in cases of particularly acute reactions to vaccination, DTP vaccination can be replaced either with expensive imported analogues of a higher quality and degree of purification, or with a simpler vaccine that does not contain a pertussis component, which gives the most pronounced reaction.
Whether or not to get vaccinated, this debate has been going on for many years, and the main argument in them is just the DTP vaccine with its consequences. It is often said that this immunization does not give the desired effect, and the incidence of, in particular, whooping cough, is not reduced. I must say that any vaccine does not give a 100% guarantee against the disease, but that it will proceed in a much easier form is guaranteed. By the way, whooping cough is very dangerous in infancy, and the risk of its severe course and even death in babies is incomparably greater than the possibility of serious complications after vaccination.
Many mothers, out of a desire to reduce the risk of complications, try to give this vaccine to the baby at the oldest possible age, but this approach is absolutely not justified: the smaller the child’s age, the easier it is to tolerate this vaccination, and these diseases, on the contrary, are more difficult to proceed at an early age .
Also, some parents are worried that when vaccinating, the child may catch the infection from which immunization is given, since they believe that it is the living culture that is being vaccinated. In the case of DTP, this fear is not justified: all components of the vaccine are killed cells of the causative agents of the disease, immunity is generated on their individual parts, and subsequently the baby’s body will recognize them and fight them effectively.