The Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid has just made public a new calendar of childhood vaccination that reduces the number of punctures in the newborn without varying the protection against the 13 infectious diseases of children from zero to 14 years.
The changes affect the administration of vaccines against Hepatitis B and against Meningitis C, and follow the guidelines indicated by the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System for guarantee a unique, homogeneous and equitable calendar Throughout the Spanish territory.
Changes in the Hepatitis B vaccine
As Armando explained in this post, the Hepatitis B vaccine is administered in different ways according to the autonomous community. Until a few days ago, in the Community of Madrid, this vaccine was administered in four doses:
- A first dose to the newborn
- And, subsequently, three more doses within the hexavalentetres vaccine at two, four and 11 months, according to the official calendar.
But with the new calendar published by the Ministry of Health, the four doses would be reduced to three, by suppressing the first puncture of the newborn, before the scientific evidence that supports that, thanks to the knowledge of the serology of the pregnant mother and the immune control during pregnancy, transmission of this disease in the baby is currently avoided and, therefore, it is not necessary to administer this first dose.
Vaccination to the newborn will be administered exclusively when the mother is a carrier of the disease or before unknown serology.Changes in the Meningitis C vaccine
Another relevant modification for the reduction in the number of punctures refers to the administration of the Meningitis C vaccine, which also has gone from having four doses to having three: at four months, 12 months and 12 years.
Thus, since last January, the babies of the Community of Madrid the puncture that was previously administered at two months of age is saved, but without varying your protection against this disease.
Modifications to adapt to the common vaccination schedule
In 2017, the Community of Madrid adapted its Child Vaccination Calendar to the Common Vaccination Calendar approved by the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS).
This change consisted primarily of modify the primary vaccination schedule, reducing the number of doses to be administered in the first six months of life (from three doses to two), and in advancing the recall dose from 18 to 11 months of age.
In this way, the traditional 3 + 1 vaccination scheme has been replaced by a new 2 + 1 scheme that reduces the number of punctures in the infant while maintaining and ensuring adequate protection.As reported by the Ministry of Health, in the Community of Madrid there are high vaccination coverage that is increased annually, with the vaccination rate of children under one year of 99 percent.
On the other hand, 95.5 percent of pregnant women were vaccinated last year against pertussis, to prevent this disease in both the newborn and the mother.
Via Portal of Health of the Community of Madrid
In Babies and More Vaccine Calendar 2018: these are the novelties, Meningitis C vaccine: everything you need to know, Hepatitis B vaccine: everything you need to know
