Can children who are taking antibiotics get vaccinated?

Vaccination is the most effective method in creating a sustainable immune system for children against some dangerous infections. But quite a lot of parents worry that children who are taking antibiotics can be vaccinated?

This worry of parents is completely reasonable because it is not known whether the child is taking antibiotics, will have any effect on the effect of vaccination.

What are antibiotics?

Antibiotics are drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria. Different antibiotics have different ability to kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. Therefore, the use of antibiotics must be prescribed by the doctor.

For young children, because the immune system to protect the body is not yet complete, they are prone to diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. In particular, illnesses such as colds, runny nose, sore throat, cough, sinusitis, bronchitis... are usually caused by invading viruses, parents are easily mistaken as infected children and arbitrarily Some children take antibiotics. Not only is this ineffective, but the child can suffer from side effects of antibiotics , increasing the risk of drug resistance.

Antibiotics are drugs used to treat diseases

Can children who are taking antibiotics get vaccinated?

In fact, there are many cases of children who are taking antibiotics but are on schedule for vaccination because young children in this age often experience symptoms such as cough, fever, diarrhea, etc. Therefore, parents are all If children who are taking antibiotics can be vaccinated, in principle, apart from a few exceptions, there are no contraindications to vaccination for children taking antibiotics.

Administration of antibiotics did not affect the immune response to live attenuated vaccines (except oral typhoid vaccine) and inactivated vaccines. These children need to be screened before vaccination to better determine their health status by a specialist.

Some cases of antibiotic use do not affect the immune response to the vaccine.

It is necessary to distinguish cases of fever due to illness and teething fever in children , because cases of fever and diarrhea that are taking antibiotics may have to be postponed to wait for recovery, and if the baby has a fever, teething, can still be injected normally. In case of cough, runny nose, vaccination should be indicated or postponed depending on each specific case. 

So, can children be vaccinated if they are taking antibiotics. Live attenuated influenza vaccine should not be given within 48 hours of using antiviral drugs even though antiviral drugs do not affect inactivated influenza vaccines.

Live zoster vaccines or chickenpox vaccines may be reduced by anti-herpes antivirals. Therefore, if a child taking an antibiotic is immunized, it should be stopped at least 24 hours before receiving a live zoster or chickenpox vaccine.

There is no evidence of an antiviral effect on Rotavirus and MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines.

Contraindications to vaccination in children

Although vaccination is necessary for every child, but children taking antibiotics can not be vaccinated, in some cases children should not be vaccinated because it can cause some unnecessary vaccine reactions.

Some absolute contraindications to childhood vaccination are as follows:

• History of shock or severe reaction after initial vaccination (same vaccine) or high fever above 39°C with convulsions, neurological symptoms (brain, meningeal signs), dyspnea, cyanosis.
• Immunocompromised children with congenital immunodeficiency or HIV infection are contraindicated to receive live attenuated vaccines.
• Children who are taking antibiotics must be vaccinated against the contraindications required by the vaccine manufacturer.

In addition, the cases in which vaccination must be postponed in children are as follows:

• The condition of children with impaired functions such as breathing, circulation, heart failure, kidney failure, coma.
• Children with acute infectious or malignant diseases.
• Children with fever above 37.5°C or hypothermia below 35.5°C.
• The child has had immunoglobulin products for 3 months (except for hepatitis B antisera).
• Children who have recently finished high-dose corticosteroids, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy for 14 days.
• Children weighing less than 2000g.
• Children with a history of reactions to previous shots of the same vaccine.
• Children with congenital heart disease or other congenital diseases of organs such as lungs, gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, blood or unstable cancer.

In some cases of severe illness in children, vaccination must be delayed so as not to affect the effectiveness of the drug.

Some notes when giving children vaccinations

To ensure the health of the child, before vaccination, parents need to monitor the health status of the child to notify the doctor during pre-injection screening. Problems such as underweight, if there is a medical condition or a fever, it is necessary to delay the vaccination schedule until the child is in a better condition. The child's conditions identified during the screening include:

• Weight: Is the child 2.5 kg (infant)?
• How is the feeding, sleeping and playing status?
• Do you have a fever or are you sick?
• Are you taking any medications or treatments?
• Is there a history of allergies to foods or medications?
• Is there a history of severe reactions to vaccines in previous injections?

In general, whether children who are taking antibiotics can be vaccinated, it is important to have their children screened before vaccination and parents need to carefully research the hospital, vaccination unit, and also consider a team of specialized doctors. pediatric department during pre-injection screening.