Author: Dr Jeffrey Soon was the Paediatrician and Head of Paediatric Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 1987-1990. He was Resident Consultant Paediatrician to Damai Specialist Hospital from 1990-2010. Currently he treats from Klinik Pakar Kanak Kanak Dr Soon and at the same time a visiting paediatrician to Damai Specialist Hospital.
Every year millions of children die because they did not receive vaccinations against easily preventable diseases. While much progress has been made to stop this, these efforts have been compromised increasingly by a slew of myths about vaccination that have arisen and now spread easily because of the internet. I therefore feel compelled by my civic and moral duty as a doctor to provide the facts about vaccination, particularly in Malaysia and address the various myths on this subject
Vaccination is also known as immunisation. The human body is given an artificially weakened part of a germ (virus or bacteria) so that the body becomes ready to fight the actual germ if it attacks the body. Apart from clean water, vaccination programs have probably been the most significant factor in reducing sickness and death from infectious diseases in the world.
It is estimated that about 11 million children under 5 years die each year because they did not receive the recommended childhood immunisations.
The vaccination program started with DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) followed by BCG in 1961, oral Polio vaccine in 1972, Measles vaccine 1984, Rubella vaccine 1988 and Hepatitis B vaccine in 1990.
