Pentavalent vaccine
The pentavalent or penta vaccine is a combination of five vaccines conjugated into one vaccine administered Intramuscularly intended to protect infants from five potential childhood killer diseases. The Nigerian government introduced the pentavalent vaccine in May 2012 into its national immunization schedule to immunize children against these diseases:
- Diphtheria
- Tetanus
- whooping cough
- hepatitis B
- Haemophilus influenza type B
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection usually affecting the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. Diphtheria typically causes a sore throat, fever, swollen glands and weakness. This is characterized with a sheet of thick, gray material covering the back of the throat, which can block the airway, causing the individual to struggle for breath. In advanced stages, diphtheria can damage the heart, kidneys and nervous system. The rate if infection of diphtheria is higher for children under 15.
Signs and symptoms of diphtheria
Diphtheria signs and symptoms usually begin two to five days after a person becomes infected and may include:
- A thick, gray membrane covering the throat and tonsils
- A sore throat and hoarseness
- Swollen glands in the neck
- Difficulty breathing or rapid breathing
- Nasal discharge
- Fever and chills
- Malaise
In some people, infection with diphtheria-causing bacteria causes only a mild illness-or no obvious signs and symptoms at all. Infected people who remain unaware of their illness are known as carriers of diphtheria, because they can spread the infection without being sick themselves.
Causes of diphtheria
The bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae causes diphtheria. It usually multiplies on or near the surface of the mucous membranes of the throat and spreads via three routes:
- Airborne droplets: When an infected person’s sneeze or cough releases a mist of contaminated droplets, people nearby may inhale the bacteria.
- Contaminated personal items: People occasionally catch diphtheria from handling an infected person’s used tissues, drinking from the person’s unwashed glass, or coming into similarly close contact with other items on which bacteria-laden secretions may be deposited.
- Contaminated household items: In rare cases, diphtheria spreads on shared household items, such as towels or toys.
Tetanus
Tetanus is a serious bacterial disease that affects the nervous system, leading to painful muscle contractions, particularly of your jaw and neck muscles. Tetanus can interfere with the ability to breathe and, ultimately, threatens life. Tetanus is commonly known as “lockjaw.”
There’s no cure for tetanus. Treatment focuses on managing complications until the effects of the tetanus toxin resolve. Fatality is highest in individuals who have not been immunized and in older adults with inadequate immunization.
Signs and symptoms of tetanus
Signs and symptoms of tetanus may appear anytime from a few days to several weeks after tetanus bacteria enter the body through a wound. The average incubation period is seven to eight days. Common signs and symptoms of tetanus, in order of appearance, are:
- Spasms and stiffness in your jaw muscles
- Stiffness of your neck muscles
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Stiffness of your abdominal muscles
- Painful body spasms lasting for several minutes, typically triggered by minor occurrences, such as a draft, loud noise, physical touch or light
Other signs and symptoms may include:
- Fever
- Sweating
- Elevated blood pressure
- Rapid heart rate
Causes of tetanus
The bacteria that cause tetanus, Clostridium tetani, are found in soil, dust and animal faeces. When they enter a deep flesh wound, spores of the bacteria may produce a powerful toxin, which actively impairs the nerves that control the muscles. The effect of the toxin on the motor neurons can cause muscle stiffness and spasms.
Whooping cough
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection, which is marked by a severe hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like “whoop.” Before the discovery of vaccination for whooping cough. Deaths associated with whooping cough are rare but most commonly occur in infants. That is why it is important for pregnant women – and other people who will have close contact with an infant – to be vaccinated against whooping cough.
Signs and symptoms of whooping cough
Once an individual is infected with whooping cough, it takes about seven to 10 days for signs and symptoms to appear, though it can sometimes take longer. They’re usually mild at first and resemble those of a common cold:
- Runny nose
- Nasal congestion
- Red, watery eyes
- Fever
- Cough
After a week or two, signs and symptoms worsen. Thick mucus accumulates inside the airways, causing uncontrollable coughing. Severe and prolonged coughing attacks may:
- Provoke vomiting
- Result in a red or blue face
- Cause extreme fatigue
- End with a high-pitched “whoop” sound during the next breath of air
However, many people do not develop the characteristic whoop. Sometimes, a persistent hacking cough is the only sign that an adolescent or adult has whooping cough. On the other hand, infants may not cough at all. Instead, they may struggle to breathe, or they may even temporarily stop breathing.
Causes of whooping cough
Whooping cough is caused the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, tiny germ-laden droplets are sprayed into the air and breathed into the lungs of anyone who happens to be nearby.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). For some people, hepatitis B infection becomes chronic, meaning it lasts more than six months. Having chronic hepatitis B increases the risk of developing liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis-a condition that causes permanent scarring of the liver.
Most people infected with hepatitis B as adults recover fully, even if their signs and symptoms are severe. Infants and children are more likely to develop a chronic hepatitis B infection. A vaccine can prevent hepatitis B, but there’s no cure for people who are infected.
Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B
Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B, range from mild to severe. They usually appear about one to four months after an individual been infected. Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B may include:
- Abdominal pain
- Dark urine
- Fever
- Joint pain
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Weakness and fatigue
- Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
Cause of hepatitis B
Hepatitis B infection is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The virus is passed from person to person through blood, semen or other body fluids. Common ways HBV is transmitted include:
- Sexual contact: an individual may become infected through unprotected sex with an infected partner.
- Sharing of needles: HBV is easily transmitted through needles and syringes contaminated with infected blood. Sharing intravenous (IV) drug paraphernalia puts you at high risk of hepatitis B.
- Mother to child. Pregnant women infected with HBV can pass the virus to their babies during childbirth. However, the newborn can be vaccinated to avoid getting infected.
Haemophilus influenza type B
Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) is a bacteria which can cause severe infections such as meningitis and is spread through contact with mucus or droplets from the nose and throat of an infected person, often by coughing or sneezing. Most of the time, Hib is spread by people who have the bacteria in their noses and throats but who are not ill (asymptomatic).
Meningitis is just one of the invasive diseases that can be caused by Hib. Hib can also cause life-threatening infections that make it difficult to breathe, including epiglottitis (infection in the throat) and pneumonia (infection in the lungs). Other forms of invasive Hib disease include blood, bone, or joint infections. Hib disease is very serious because since one out of 20 children with Hib meningitis are likely to die of it, and it causes permanent brain damage or deafness in one out of five survivors.
Signs and symptoms of haemophilus influenza type B
People infected with haemophilus influenza type B develop various signs and symptoms which usually include:
- Fever (but older people may have lower than normal body temperature)
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Chills
- Sweating
- Chest pain that comes and goes with breathing
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Excessive tiredness
Causes of haemophilus influenza type B
Haemophilus Influenza Type B (Hib) is caused by the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae. There are six identifiable types of Haemophilus influenzae bacteria (a through f) and other non-identifiable types (called nontypeable). The one that most people are familiar with is Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib.
Haemophilus influenzae bacteria, including Hib, are spread person-to-person by direct contact or through respiratory droplets like by coughing and sneezing. Usually the bacteria remain in the nose and throat-causing no harm. Sometimes the bacteria can enter the blood and spread, causing serious infection in the individual. Most of the time, Haemophilus influenzae bacteria are spread by people who have the bacteria in their noses and throats but who are not ill (asymptomatic). The incubation period (time between exposure and first symptoms) of Haemophilus influenzae disease is not certain, but could be as short as a few days.
Sometimes Haemophilus influenzae bacteria spread to other people who have had close or lengthy contact with a patient with Haemophilus influenzae disease.
References
Atkinson, W. (2012). Diphtheria Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (12thed.). Public Health Foundation.
Atkinson, W. (2012). Pertussis Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (12th ed.). Public Health Foundation
Garnier, S. (2003). Tetanus in developing countries: an update on the Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination Initiative. Vaccine 21 (24): 3442–5.
Kuhnert, P. & Christensen, H. (2008). Pasteurellaceae: Biology, Genomics and Molecular Aspects. Caister Academic Press.
Raphael. R. & David, S. (2008). Rubin’s Pathology : clinicopathologic foundations of medicine (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
