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SINGAPORE: As the pneumococcal shot officially became part of the National Childhood Immunisation Programme (NCIP) on Sunday, parents and medical professionals are applauding the government's move.
Now, the jab is compulsory for all newborns in Singapore and parents will be able to use Medisave to pay for it.
Parents with children under five, who have not had their shots, can use their Baby Bonus and Child Development Accounts to pay for the vaccinations.
One such parent is Mr Heng Soo Yeow, who lost his first son, Darryl, to the pneumococcal disease in 1999.
For the 43-year-old civil servant, the memory of his three-year-old son fighting for his life - as he laid in an ICU hooked up to more than 20 tubes and drips - is still fresh on his mind.
"I'm very happy that the vaccine has been made compulsory. I remember how emotionally and physically draining it was for my family when my son was hospitalised," said Mr Heng, who has since vaccinated his three other children against the disease.
He also urged parents whose children have not been vaccinated to sign their kids up for the jab. The Ministry of Health (MOH) recommends catch-up vaccination for all children under five years old.
The pneumococcal disease is one of the three leading causes of death here, according to MOH statistics.
The pneumococcal bacteria, which can be picked up through close contact with infected people via respiratory secretions, can attack different parts of the body and cause pneumonia, meningitis (brain infection), ear infection and blood infection.
Young children, especially those under two years old, are at a higher risk because of their immature immune systems, said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, head and senior consultant of the department of paediatrics at University Children's Medical Institute, National University Hospital.
As many preschool children are carriers of the pneumococcal bacteria, those who attend day care centres are more likely to become infected due to the increased exposure to the bacteria, he added.
The disease does not only afflict the young. Equally at risk` are elderly adults, who should also be vaccinated against the disease, Professor Philip Eng, a senior consultant respiratory physician at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre recommended.
"Like younger children, older people are usually affected by the disease because they either have weaker immunity or other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer or stroke.
"These patients tend to contract the more severe form of the disease," explained Prof Eng.
The adult vaccination is different from the one used in kids, who require a range of one to four doses depending on their ages (see box). Adults require only one dose.
Prof Eng added that many elderly people are unaware that they have the disease. This is because they tend to underestimate their symptoms and attribute it to ageing or a bad day.
Delaying treatment can have serious consequences.
For instance, over 20 per cent of patients who suffer from pneumococcal meningitis - one of the most serious diseases caused by the pneumococcal bacteria - die from it, according to Assoc Prof Goh.
Half of them may experience long-term health complications such as deafness, paralysis or mental retardation.
That said, both doctors said it is not easy for a lay person to pinpoint its symptoms, which may sometimes be similar to common ailments such as flu.
Looking back, Mr Heng recalled how Darryl's symptoms - a runny nose and an off-on fever that sometimes rose to 39 degrees Celsius - had seemed like a common childhood ailment.
"He was playing and running like a healthy kid whenever his fever subsided," he said.
"It is not easy for a lay person to differentiate upper respiratory infection caused by the common cold or flu from a lower respiratory tract infection. When one sees the doctor, he can listen to the chest with the stethoscope and if there are abnormal findings, a Chest X-ray is the best way to confirm pneumonia," said Prof Eng.
And the best thing to do to prevent from catching the disease, said Assoc Prof Goh, is by vaccinating against it.
- TODAY/yb
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