Is it necessary to get the hand, foot and mouth vaccine?

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common disease in people's lives. Many people do not understand it and think that there are some problems with the hands, feet and mouth parts. But in fact it is an intestinal disease. Usually, hand, foot and mouth disease will cause people to have anorexia and abdominal pain, and some pustules or small acne will appear on the hands, feet, and mouth. Therefore, in order to avoid this disease or reduce the possibility of this disease, many people inject some hand, foot and mouth disease vaccines in their daily lives. Is the hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine necessary?

Q1 Can the hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine prevent the baby from getting hand, foot and mouth disease? It cannot completely prevent the occurrence of hand, foot and mouth disease. First of all, we need to know that all vaccinations cannot prevent the occurrence of the disease 100%. It can only be said that it can greatly reduce the chance of getting the disease, and the same is true for hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine. The current hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine should actually be accurately called "Enterovirus EV71 inactivated vaccine", or "EV71 vaccine" for short. It is a vaccine made from inactivated EV71 virus and used to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease caused by the virus. Translated into plain language, it means: It can only prevent hand, foot and mouth disease caused by EV71 virus and significantly reduce the incidence rate. Even if you get sick, it can reduce the chance of severe illness and thus reduce the mortality rate. It is well known that there are many enteroviruses that cause hand, foot and mouth disease, and EV71 is just one of them. Therefore, vaccination with the current hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine cannot prevent all occurrences of hand, foot and mouth disease, and has no preventive effect on hand, foot and mouth disease caused by other viruses.

Q2 Why do scientists spend so much time researching and only give children one shot to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease caused by EV71 virus? There are many types of viruses that cause hand, foot and mouth disease, and it is difficult to completely immunize against all of them, and the research period is long. However, according to statistics, among all hand, foot and mouth disease cases, 82% of severe cases and 93% of deaths are caused by EV71, and hand, foot and mouth disease caused by other viruses are mostly self-healing diseases. The reason why mothers get nervous when talking about hand, foot and mouth disease is mainly because they are afraid that their babies will develop severe hand, foot and mouth disease and endanger their lives. Therefore, after vaccination with EV71 vaccine, the protection rate reaches 97.3%. The overall chance of a baby getting hand, foot and mouth disease will decrease, especially the chance of getting severe hand, foot and mouth disease, and the chance of death from hand, foot and mouth disease will decrease. So the baby is still worth the shot.

Q3: Should we get imported or domestic vaccines? Currently there are no imported vaccines, all are domestic vaccines.

Q4 How old should a baby be to get the hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine? The target population for EV71 vaccination is susceptible children aged ≥6 months, and the earlier the better. It is encouraged to complete the vaccination program before 12 months of age (1 year old) so that the protective effect can be exerted as early as possible. Vaccination is not recommended for children over 5 years old (babies over 5 years old are not a high-risk group for hand, foot and mouth disease, and there are few severe patients, so vaccination is not recommended).

Q5 Do babies under five years old who have had hand, foot and mouth disease still need to be vaccinated? Vaccination is recommended. Because there are many viruses that cause hand, foot and mouth disease, there is a possibility of reinfection.

Q6 How to get vaccinated? How many shots are needed? EV71 vaccine is a Category II vaccine and is voluntary and at one's own expense. For babies aged ≥6 months, the basic immunization program is two injections, one month apart. Intramuscular injection into the deltoid muscle of the upper arm is recommended.

Q7 Should I still play after the peak period? It is recommended to play. The peak period of hand, foot and mouth disease only means that more babies will be sick during this period. The disease may occur all year round, so it is recommended that susceptible children aged ≥ 6 months be vaccinated as early as possible. It is encouraged to complete the vaccination program before 12 months of age (one year old) so that the protection effect can be exerted as early as possible. Moreover, unlike the influenza vaccine, the EV71 vaccine does not need to be administered every year. If administered this year, it will also be useful next year.

Q8 What are the adverse reactions after vaccination? No serious adverse reactions related to vaccination have been observed in clinical trials so far. A small number of people may experience the following reactions after vaccination: #Local reaction#: local pain, redness, swelling, nodules, itching, etc. at the injection site. The symptoms generally do not exceed 48 to 72 hours. #Systemic reaction#: fever, diarrhea, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, etc. The duration generally does not exceed 48 to 72 hours.

Q9 Can it be administered together with other vaccines? It is not recommended to be administered together with other vaccines at present. Please listen to the doctor’s advice for specific details.