Vaccinations|The pertussis epidemic has activated young adults to get vaccinated in Helsinki much more diligently than the previous year. Only one in ten adults applies for the booster vaccine on time.
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You can get a booster shot of whooping cough at the age of 25, but few apply for it.
In 2018, the dtap booster vaccine was added to the national vaccination program.
Last year, only 12.6% of the age group received the vaccine on time.
According to THL, the number of vaccinations has increased, but more communication is needed.
Bridge currently spreading like an epidemic whooping cough can apply for a booster shot at the age of 25.
If a person born in 1993 or later has not received the pertussis vaccination at the age of 25, they can still get it later.
It is reported from the city of Helsinki that this year, booster vaccines have been given in Helsinki on the 25th–For 31-year-olds, clearly more than the previous year. More than 70 percent of the vaccines given to them have been given since the beginning of May, i.e. after the pertussis epidemic started.
Compared to the corresponding period of last year, the number of vaccines has been given almost three times, i.e. almost 1,400 vaccines.
Health and a specialist doctor at the Institute of Welfare (THL). Anniina Virkku says that the number of booster vaccines given to 25-year-olds has increased every year. Especially this year, the popularity has increased.
“More has been given this year than all of last year. Hard to say how much of it is due to whooping cough. Having the topic on display may have activated people.”
Last year, about 8,000 young adults took the vaccine on time, which is only 12.6 percent of the age group. In 2018, the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough booster vaccine, or dtap, was added to the national vaccination program for 25-year-olds.
The booster vaccine for the new age group was marketed in 2018 with, among other things, posters and brochures. Shortly after its launch, however, the corona pandemic started, for which THL’s resources were concentrated.
At all only every tenth adult applies for the booster vaccine on time, Medical journal tells.
The problem is that the 25-year-olds are scattered between postgraduate studies and working life, so they cannot be reached from the same place as one mass.
This should be reminded in connection with vaccinations given in elementary school and in the second grade. Another thing is whether the reminder from ten years ago is still remembered at the age of 25.
“There is a lot that is not known. There is certainly a need for additional communication and information,” Virkku admits.
in Finland there is no channel through which everyone belonging to the age group could be reminded about the vaccination. THL’s leading expert in Lääkärilehti Mia Kontio suggests that a reminder function about booster vaccines for different age groups be built in Omakanta.
According to Virku, similar reminders have been sent about flu vaccines in other countries.
“It would certainly increase the number of vaccinations,” he says.
In August THL recommended booster dose of the pertussis vaccine for pregnant women, because the disease is dangerous for children under 1 year old and especially for newborns. This recommendation explains about a third of the increased number of vaccinations in Helsinki.
Whooping cough is known in many languages as “hundred-day cough”, because the typical symptom of an infection caused by bacteria is a cough that lasts for weeks or months.
At one time, booster vaccination against whooping cough was added to 25-year-olds with the idea that people would have children at that age. Not all pregnant women can be protected because last year the average age of those who became biological mothers for the first time was 30.3 years. The effectiveness of the vaccine lasts for about five years.
“We have had to balance the fact that the tetanus vaccination in the same vaccine can be given in the most reasonable way possible, so we have ended up with 25 years of age,” Virkku explains the solution.
Old counseling cards in the archive in the basement of the office building in Kallio.
Before electronic systems, vaccinations were recorded on the vaccination card and those given at the counseling center on the counseling card. Few, however, still have cardboard notes from decades ago.
According to Virku, thanks to Finland’s high vaccine coverage, you can be confident that the childhood vaccines have been received at the clinic. On the other hand, there may be confusion with hepatitis vaccines to be purchased later, for example for a vacation trip.
Before electronic systems, information about vaccines was recorded in patient records. If you remember where the vaccine was taken, you can turn to that agency.
If the matter is not resolved, Virkku recommends getting vaccinated anyway, because there is no harm in getting the same vaccine twice.
“If you are not sure whether you have received the vaccine, you can take a new one.”
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