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SINGAPORE: A recent study on paediatric vaccination showed that half of the mothers surveyed had their children, who are younger than six months, vaccinated against pneumococcal disease.
The survey, which was conducted by the Singapore Paediatric Society, attributed this to a higher awareness of the disease, which is the common cause of meningitis, blood infection, pneumonia and middle ear infection.
Two years ago, 8-year-old Ng Rui contracted pneumonia caused by pneumococcal disease. She spent 23 days in the hospital and even had to go for a minor operation to draw out fluid from her lungs.
In Singapore, 13.6 children out of 100,000 children below five years old are infected by pneumococcal disease. One in four of them experiences complications, and one in 16 of these children dies as a result.
But vaccination against the disease is not compulsory here.
Ng Rui's mother, Chan Mei Lin, said: "Actually I thought it was a common flu. But when detected, it was pneumococcal pneumonia, which was quite a serious sickness... If I had prevented it with early vaccine, I think this could have been avoided."
In order not to repeat the mistake, Mdm Chan paid about S$300 to vaccinate both her younger daughters – a small amount compared to the S$10,000 hospital bill for her eldest daughter.
The Singapore Paediatric Society found that four in ten mothers are unaware there is a vaccination against pneumococcal disease.
Associate Professor Daniel Goh, president, Singapore Paediatric Society, said: "One of the important reasons we noted from the study that we did was that most parents do not give the child the non-routine vaccines because they are not aware of the disease itself or do not understand the significance of the disease, or the availability of preventive measures by way of a vaccine."
It is hoped that education can encourage greater awareness among mothers to bring their children for early vaccinations.
- CNA/so/ir
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