NEW VACCINE FOR CHILDREN UNDER ONE YEAR OLD TO BE INTRODUCED

KINGSTON, May 2 (JIS):

The Ministry of Health will be introducing on its immunization schedule, a new combination vaccine called pentavalent, for children under one year of age in the first week of June. This will be after the official launch of the vaccine during Child Month in May at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston.

As a result, Jamaica will now join other countries in the Caribbean, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana in introducing the vaccine based on recommendations made by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Speaking at the JIS Weekly Think Tank, Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell, Director of the Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health disclosed that the Ministry realized that the recommendations for the introduction of the vaccine were very valid, based on the situation in Jamaica and the evidence of the effectiveness of this vaccine worldwide.

In the case of Jamaica, Dr. Lewis-Bell explained that the

vaccine, which will provide protection against five diseases (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, haemophilus influenza type B or Hib and hepatitis B), was important, as hepatitis B for example, was common among children under a year old. In fact, hepatitis B can have adverse effects on children causing chronic liver infection, cirrhosis or hardening of the liver, as well as cancer of the liver.

“Data that we have in our Ministry indicates that the new cases and existing cases seem to be increasing islandwide and studies have been done…one of which indicates that there is a relatively high rate of hepatitis B infection in basic school children in St. Andrew,” Dr. Lewis-Bell stated.

Noting that if children were not protected against Hib, Dr. Lewis-Bell said that many could suffer from a range of conditions, the most dangerous of which were pneumonia and meningitis, which could lead to death.
Elaborating further on the vaccine, Dr. Lewis-Bell noted that of the five diseases covered by the vaccine, only two (Hib and hepatitis B) were covered for the first time by the public sector and that, vaccines for the other diseases were already on the regular immunization schedule.

The pentavalent vaccine, the Director explained, was really one that combined vaccines for different antigens and diseases in just one vaccine. This was nothing new, Dr. Lewis-Bell said, because the Ministry had combination vaccines in their schedule, like the Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT) vaccine and the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

One major benefit of introducing the vaccine, Dr. Lewis-Bell said, was that it simplified vaccine delivery. “Rather than give children three or four injections to protect them against three or four diseases, it would be just one vaccine,” she explained. This, she continued, “would actually be better for the infant in that, there would be less pain and discomfort and less time away from work for parents to bring the child in for the vaccine each time”.

Dr. Lewis-Bell also said that the immunogenicity of the combination vaccine, which was the amount of protection that the vaccine offers, was very comparable to separate vaccines and offered a high level of protection. “This fact is based on the number of children who are vaccinated…the percentage of them who actually develop protection against these diseases,” the Director noted.

“For all the components of the pentavalent vaccine, the protection against the five diseases is in excess of 90 and as much as 100 per cent. Basically, about 90 to 100 per cent of children who would be vaccinated using this combination vaccine, would be protected against all the major components of this vaccine,”
Dr. Lewis-Bell stressed.

In terms of being cost effective, most combination vaccines she said, were less expensive than the individual vaccines. “There is the use of less needles and syringes and therefore, less material for disposal,” she added.

The Ministry will be offering this vaccine to infants at six weeks of age in three doses, completing the schedule preferably before six months of age. “If the infant does not get all his doses before six months of age, the Ministry will have up until a year to ensure that the infant gets all three doses,” the Director said.

Acknowledging that some countries and the private sector offered a booster dose of the vaccine at about 15 to18 months of age, Dr. Lewis-Bell said that the ministry would not be offering a booster.

“Studies have shown that the added benefit from a booster dose is not that much greater than just completing the primary schedule of three doses. We will just be offering three doses and that will be enough protection for the infant against the five diseases,” the Director explained.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lewis-Bell disclosed that plans to offer the vaccine had been in place since 1998. However to include it in the immunization schedule, the Ministry “had to make sure that the Ministry of Finance would be able to sustain it”. With over 50,000 infants born annually in Jamaica, Dr. Lewis-Bell continued, funds had to be secured so that the Ministry could offer three doses of the vaccine free of cost to these children.

“I have also been advised that some of the funds from the National Health Fund will also be used to ensure that we have adequate funds to sustain the vaccine on the immunization schedule,” she said.

The vaccines and supplies are going to cost the government in excess of $50 million each year.