I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys as I'm very interested to know your thoughts on this.
For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:
"The meningitis B vaccine will be introduced to the routine childhood vaccination programme in Scotland from 1 September, it has been announced.
Scotland is now one of the few nations in the world to offer the vaccination to all infants. The vaccination will be given in three doses at two months, four months and a year. Babies aged two months when the vaccine is introduced will be eligible.
Meningitis B is a bacterial infection that particularly affects children under the age of one. It commonly affects children under five years of age, and is also common among teenagers aged 15 to 19.
Symptoms include a high fever with cold hands and feet, confusion, vomiting and headaches.
Most children will make a full recovery with early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment, although it is fatal in one in 10 cases. About one in four of those who survive is left with long-term problems such as amputation, deafness, epilepsy and learning difficulties."
Here's another article on Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib):
"Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a bacterium that can cause a number of serious illnesses, especially in young children.
Of the small number of cases that do occur nowadays, most affect adults with long-term (chronic) underlying medical conditions, rather than young children.
Meningitis is the most severe illness caused by Hib and, even with treatment, one in every 20 children with Hib meningitis will die. Of those who do survive, many will have long-term problems such as hearing loss, seizures and learning disabilities."
In Malaysia, we have this jab under our vaccination schedule (under Hib dos 1, 2 and 3 respectively at month 2, month 3 and month 5). For those of you who are curious on other countries' immunization schedule, I actually did a compilation on Comparison of Immunization Schedules of other countries (just for knowledge purposes).
Do share your thoughts on this!
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