Protecting your little ones against pneumococcal diseases

Children are strong, but they are also curious and adventurous. Often, they expose themselves to dangers that you can’t even see—like pneumococcal diseases. Pneumococcal diseases can spread through the air (coughing and sneezing) and also close contact.¹ So when children go to childcare centres or play outside, they are vulnerable.¹

Pneumococcal disease

Are bacterial infections that can develop into serious illnesses that attack the lungs, ears and even the brain. Common pneumococcal diseases include pneumonia, otitis media (middle ear infections), and meningitis.²,⁴ For children, whose immune systems are weak, the damage can be even worse. In some cases it can even lead to fatalities.²

The Importance of Vaccination

• Protect Your Child’s Long-Term Development: Pneumococcal diseases are serious illnesses that might have long-term effects on your little one’s development and health. Vaccination can help reduce all these risks!³

 

 


• Protect Your Financial Well-Being: If your child gets sick with 
pneumococcal diseases, this may cause them to miss school, and in turn, cause you to miss work and affect your income.

 

 


• Protect Your Child from Infection: Taking the vaccine may reduce chances of your child contracting pneumococcal diseases in nurseries, childcare centres and other spaces where they interact with others.¹

What it means as a parent?

For parents, ongoing treatment and hospital visits will cause loss of time and income from missing days at work and all the stress and anxiety that comes with caring for a sick child. However this can be prevented. Prevention is easy and free with the pneumococcal vaccine which is now part of the National Immunisation Program. What’s more, children born in 2018 and 2019 can now receive the “catch-up” vaccine for free.³

So don’t wait!

Make an appointment at your nearest MOH Klinik Kesihatan by using MySejahtera or simply walking in to get your child protected now. This program is now available until 31 May 2024.³

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About the Vaccine

The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has been part of the National Immunisation Programme of Malaysia by MOH since 2020. As of 1 June 2023, it is now also extended to children born in 2018 and 2019 as part of the Catch-up programme until 31 May 2024.³

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References

1. CDC.gov – Pneumococcal Disease: Risk Factors & How It Spreads https://www.cdc.gov/pneumococcal/about/risk-transmission.html Last accessed: 5 Oct 2023
2. Arushothy R, Ahmad N, Amran F, Hashim R, Samsudin N, Azih CRC. Pneumococcal serotype distribution and antibiotic susceptibility in Malaysia: A four-year study (2014-2017) on invasive paediatric isolates. Last 
accessed: 14 March 2022. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30572022/
3. MOH: Ministry of Health Malaysia. National Immunisation Programme. Free pneumococcal vaccination programme extended to those born between 2018 and 2019. Last accessed: 7 June 2023. Retrieved from: 
https://mma.org.my/web/wp-content/uploads/20230601104919082-1.pdf
4. Gregory J, Chohrach N, Iyengar D (August 29, 2022) Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Secondary to Acute Otitis Media in a High-Risk Patient: A Case Report and Review of Recent Changes to Pneumococcal Immunization Guidelines. Cureus 14(8): e28557. doi:10.7759/cureus.28557

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