My little boy has just had the PCV Immunisation ...?

Question

- has anyone else out there had it and did their little ones suffer any side effects?

Answer 1

Who should get the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)?

All children under two years of age
Children between two and five years of age who have not already received PCV who have sickle cell disease, a damaged spleen or no spleen, HIV/AIDS or other diseases that affect the immune system, such as diabetes or cancer, or who take medications that affect the immune system, such as chemotherapy or steroids
Other children between two and five years of age who have not already received PCV, particularly those who are under three years of age or are of Alaska Native, American Indian, or African American descent or who attend group child care
What is the schedule for the routine doses of PCV for children?
All healthy infants and toddler should get four doses of PCV vaccine, usually given at two, four, six, and 12-15 months of age.

What if my three year old never got his PCV shots?
The number of doses a child needs to complete the series depends on his/her current age. Older children need fewer doses. For example, a healthy unvaccinated child age 24-59 months should receive a single dose of PCV. Your health care provider can tell you how many doses are needed to complete the series at a certain age. PCV is not routinely recommended for individuals over 59 months of age.

Do some children need to get both PCV and PPV?
Yes, children at high risk of invasive pneumococcal disease should receive PCV and then also receive PPV23 when two years of age or older. However, PPV is not given routinely to healthy children.

If influenza is recommended for health care workers to protect high-risk patients from getting influenza, why isn't pneumococcal vaccine also recommended?
Influenza virus is easily spread from health care workers to their patients, and infection usually leads to clinical illness. Pneumococcus is probably not spread from health care workers to their patients as easily as is influenza, and infection with pneumococcus does not necessarily lead to clinical illness. Host factors (such as age, underlying illness) are more important in the development of invasive pneumococcal disease than just having the bacteria in one's nose or throat.

My neighbor got a second pneumococcal shot. I thought just one was required.
Revaccination is not done routinely, but a single revaccination dose is recommended for groups of people at highest risk of serious infection. No one should receive more than two doses of PPV.

For example, persons who received a first dose prior to age 65 should receive a second dose at age 65 if at least five years have elapsed since the previous dose. Likewise, persons over two years of age who are at high risk for pneumococcal disease due to certain long-term health problems, in particular immunosuppression, HIV infection, and not having a functional spleen (or having no spleen) should get a second dose five or more years after the first dose.

High-risk children (with sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, etc.) who received the full PCV series as infants should receive one dose of PPV at two years of age or older (at least two months following the last PCV dose).

Anyone interested in the full list of recommendations for revaccination with PPV can find a chart at http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/2015pne.pdf

Who recommends these vaccines?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) have all recommended this vaccine.

Should all nursing home patients 65 and over be vaccinated against pneumococcal disease?
Yes. Standing orders for vaccination of persons admitted to long-term care facilities can help simplify the procedure. Providers should not withhold vaccination in the absence of an immunization record or complete record. The patient's verbal history should be used to determine prior vaccination status. Persons with uncertain or unknown vaccination status should be vaccinated.

Can pregnant women get this vaccine?
The safety of PPV vaccine for pregnant women has not been studied, so currently it is not recommended for healthy pregnant women.

How safe is this vaccine?
PPV and PCV are both very safe vaccines.

For PPV, about 30%-50% of the people who get the vaccine have very mild side effects, such as redness or pain where the shot was given. Fewer than 1% of recipients develop a fever, muscle aches, or more severe local reactions. Serious allergic reactions have been reported very rarely.

For PCV, about 10%-20% of children develop redness, tenderness, or swelling where the shot was given. About 10% may have a mild fever.

How effective is this vaccine?
Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV)
Overall, PPV is 60%-70% effective in preventing invasive disease. Older adults and persons with significant underlying illnesses do not respond as well, but vaccination with PPV is still recommended because such persons are at high risk of developing severe pneumococcal disease.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
In a large clinical trial, PCV7 was shown to be 97% effective in preventing invasive disease caused by the pneumococci contained in the vaccine and 89% effective against all types of S. pneumoniae, including those not found in the vaccine. Children with chronic diseases such as sickle cell disease and HIV infection also seem to respond well to PCV.

Who should NOT receive pneumococcal vaccine?
For both PPV and PCV, persons who had a severe allergic reaction to one dose should not receive another (such reactions are rare).

Persons who are moderately or severely ill should wait until their condition improves to be vaccinated.

As mention above, pneumococcal vaccine should generally not be given to pregnant women.

Can the vaccine cause pneumococcal disease?
No.

Answer 2

My son had it, he was absolutely fine, you've done the right thing :)

Give him some childrens paracetamol and ibuprofen even if he appears not to need it, he might develop a headache and it can be very painful, better to protect against it straightaway, he'll be fine by morning either way.

Answer 3

when my son had this he was fine. i believe side effects are less common as it is no a live immunusation.