Currently, my country is carrying out COVID-19 vaccination work for young people and children. Compared with the previous situation when adults were vaccinated, the vaccination safety of minors has attracted more attention. Many parents are worried about their children's adverse reactions and want to know how to determine whether these reactions are caused by vaccines and how to deal with and deal with them. Today, we invite Li Tong, chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Infectious Diseases at Beijing You'an Hospital to talk about this topic.
provided by: Visual China
(1) What are the common adverse reactions
In the vaccinated population, the common adverse reactions currently observed are mainly pain and redness and swelling at the injection site. This is also an adverse reaction that may be caused by all vaccinated vaccination, and is not special. Other common adverse reactions include fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, limb pain, etc.
According to statistics, the incidence of these adverse reactions is relatively close to the incidence of adverse reactions of other conventional vaccinations, and the incidence of adverse reactions of inactivated vaccines is less common than that of other technical route vaccines.
These common adverse reactions generally last for a short time and can heal themselves. According to the range of affected bodies, adverse reactions are divided into local and systemic.
Local reaction refers to pain, redness, swelling, nodules, etc. at the injection site, and usually does not require treatment. When the arm on one side of the vaccinated side is more obvious, you can temporarily avoid force on the arm on this side, such as not lifting heavy objects or pulling them hard, to avoid aggravating discomfort.
Systemic reactions include fever, chills, general myalgia, headache, etc. The symptoms are mild and do not require special treatment. If a child has a fever or muscle aches affects his sleep or mental state, he/she can use antipyretic and analgesic drugs such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve symptoms.
(2) Stay for half an hour to ensure that accidents occur and deal with them in a timely manner
According to the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, my country has started large-scale adult population vaccination work since December 15, 2020. As of April 30, 2021, 265 million doses of the new crown vaccine were vaccinated, and the incidence of adverse reactions was 1186/100,000 doses. Among them, the "general reaction" of adverse reactions accounted for 83%, with a reported incidence rate of 9.84/100,000 doses. These "general reactions" actually reflect the body's normal and inherent immune response to exposure to antigens.
It can be seen that the incidence of adverse reactions of the new crown vaccine is indeed low, and most of them are mild to moderate adverse reactions, and most of them are relieved by themselves within 24 hours.
Of course, we cannot take it lightly, after all, serious adverse reactions are still possible. Serious adverse reactions mainly come from allergic reactions to certain components of the vaccine, manifested as nausea, vomiting, facial flushing, rash, laryngeal edema, wheezing, tachycardia, and even hypotension, heart failure, allergic shock. In comparison, these serious adverse reactions are relatively more reported in the new crown mRNA vaccine and adenovirus vector vaccine, while the risk of serious adverse reactions in the new crown inactivated vaccine is less than one in one million (0.07/100,000 doses).
Usually, serious adverse reactions occur within 30 minutes after vaccination. Therefore, whether adults or minors, the regulations for observation for 30 minutes should be followed after vaccination. If an accident occurs, emergency response drugs and equipment at the vaccination site can maximize the safety of the vaccinated person.
(3) How to determine whether it is caused by the vaccine
After the vaccine is vaccinated, the child feels physical discomfort. How to identify whether it is caused by the vaccine? Generally, it can be judged from the two aspects of time and symptoms. Local adverse reactions and systemic adverse reactions caused by vaccination usually occur within 24 hours after vaccination, and will gradually improve after more than 24 hours, and will basically disappear or significantly relieve within 3 days.
If you experience high fever and have symptoms such as cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, etc., you need to consider whether an upper respiratory tract infection happens, such as the common cold or influenza. Because, the adverse reactions caused by vaccines generally do not have respiratory symptoms such as cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, etc. Digestive symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea may be digestive tract infections such as acute gastroenteritis and norovirus infection, and medical treatment is required depending on the progress of the disease.
It should be noted that no matter what symptoms appear, they will not be relieved for more than 3 days after vaccination, or symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, difficulty breathing, rash, fatigue, and mental depression should be treated as soon as possible to screen for the cause.
(4) Pay attention to psychological counseling for children
The physical and mental discomfort caused by vaccination can be considered to take some methods to avoid or alleviate them as much as possible.
In addition to the contraindications listed in the vaccine instructions and informed consent form, attention should be paid to psychological counseling for children. Some children are afraid of vaccination and are advised to provide guidance, communication and comfort in advance to avoid discomfort after vaccination due to psychological factors.
In addition, winter is the peak season for respiratory infections. If you are in the cold period, especially during fever, vaccination should be postponed to avoid adverse reactions after vaccination. It is impossible to accurately determine whether it is caused by respiratory infection or vaccine.
Considering the lively and active characteristics of children, parents must accompany them after vaccination, supervise the child to stay quietly for 30 minutes, and leave without any abnormalities. At the same time, avoid strenuous exercise and overwork within 3 days, and contact the doctor in time if there is obvious discomfort.
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Wang Dan Correspondent Liu Hui
Edit Wang Haiping
Process Edit Wu Yue
