In the child-rearing process, vaccination is a key component of child health. However, there is an error zone that is widespread among parents: the fever of the child following vaccination is a vaccine problem. Such misperceptions often worry parents and even discourage vaccination. Today, we have come to examine this area of error in order to enable parents to view correctly the phenomenon of children having a fever after vaccination.
First, we need to understand that post-vaccination fever is a more common normal response. Vaccines are external antigens for the human immune system. When the vaccine enters the child ‘ s body, the immune system quickly recognizes and activates the immune response mechanism, as if the body had experienced a real pathogen invasion. During this process, the body releases a wide range of immunoactive substances, such as white cellulin, which affect the body temperature-regulating centre of the human body, leading to higher body temperature and fever symptoms. For example, many children are likely to experience varying levels of heat response following vaccination against common vaccines such as measles and white-and-white vaccine. This heat is usually low or moderate, and the body temperature is typically between 37.5 °C – 38.5 °C, lasting for a short period of time, and is self-depressed over a period of 1-2 days, without causing serious harm to the child ‘ s body.
Secondly, a fever following vaccination does not mean that the vaccine itself has a quality problem or that the vaccination process is wrong. Vaccines are subject to rigorous clinical trials and quality tests before they are developed, produced and placed on the market, and will only be widely applied if they are standardized to ensure their safety and effectiveness. Moreover, professional health-care personnel follow strict operational procedures to ensure the safety of vaccinations. For example, the cold chain management of vaccines in our country, from the production, transport and storage of vaccines, there are strict temperature control requirements throughout the chain to ensure that the activity and quality of vaccines are not affected. As a result, the fever after the child is vaccinated is more a reflection of the normal response of his or her own immune system to the vaccine than of the poor quality of the vaccine.
Moreover, not all children are vaccinated with fever, and individual differences play an important role. The level of development and functioning of the immune system varies from one child to another. Some children ‘ s immune systems are sensitive and active and are more likely to have immune responses, such as fever, after vaccination, while others may have a relatively mild response with only slight or no visible symptoms after vaccination. For example, vaccination against influenza, some children may have a fever of about 38°C and a slight inactivity, while others are normal, which is a normal individual difference and cannot be denied the safety and reliability of vaccines because of the fever of individual children.
In addition, in addition to the immuno-reactive fevers caused by the vaccine itself, there are other factors that may lead to a fever among children following vaccination. For example, the child may be in a state of incubation for upper respiratory infections at the time of vaccination, followed by fever symptoms, which parents are likely to misperceive as a result of the vaccine. Or a child may experience a slight physical metabolic disorder or short-lived temperature fluctuations as a result of emotional factors such as stress and crying during the inoculation process, but generally the temperature increases are smaller and will soon return to normal.
Parents do not have to panic too much when the child has a fever following vaccination. First, the children ‘ s temperature changes, mental state and other associated symptoms, such as cough, diarrhoea, etc., are closely observed. If the temperature is below 38.5°C, physical cooling can be used, for example, to wipe the children ‘ s forehead, neck, armpits, groin, etc. with warm water to help with heat cooling; at the same time, the children are given more water, rest and indoor air flow. If the temperature exceeds 38.5 °C or is accompanied by other serious disorders, such as convulsions, respiratory distress, etc., the child should be taken to the hospital in time for reasonable deheating and treatment of the disease under the direction of a doctor.
Inoculation of children with fever is not necessarily a vaccine problem. Parents need to understand the phenomenon properly, believe in science and actively cooperate in vaccination efforts, and build a solid immune barrier for the healthy development of their children.
