The annually updated vaccination calendar provides parents with information which vaccinations for children and young people in Poland are obligatory and free-of-charge, and which are recommended. The calendar also contains a list of vaccinations for adults.
The vaccination calendar includes the doses of particular vaccines necessary to develop and maintain immunity, the type of vaccines, their doses, the routes of their administration, and the deadlines and time intervals at which they should be carried out.
THE DEFINITION OF THE VACCINATION CALENDAR
The vaccination calendar is the main part of the Vaccination Programme; it includes a list of obligatory vaccinations for children and adolescents, and also for people prone to infections. The programme also contains a list of recommended vaccinations for children, adolescents and adults which are not financed from the resources of the Ministry of Health.
According to the estimates of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, over 95% of parents provide their children up the age of 12 with vaccinations according to the current vaccination calendar.
The obligatory vaccination calendar in 2014 covers vaccinations against tuberculosis, B type viral hepatitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, B type Haemophilus influenzae (Hib), polio (poliomyelitis), measles, mumps and rubella.
THE LIST OF OBLIGATORY VACCINATIONS
The most obligatory vaccinations concern newborns. The first ones, against tuberculosis and B type viral hepatitis, are carried out within the first 24 hours after birth. After 7-8 weeks infants are vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and Hib, and vaccinations against B type viral hepatitis is repeated.
Between the 3rd and the 4th month of infants' life some vaccinations are repeated, and obligatory vaccinations against polio are performed, while after 6-8 weeks from the last vaccination the ones against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib and polio are carried out again.
Before each vaccination a child should be examined by a paediatrician.
There are also obligatory and free vaccinations for people particularly prone to infections (adults and children from risk groups), including the invasive infections of Streptococcus pneumoniae, B type viral hepatitis, diphtheria, chickenpox, tetanus and rabies, if there is a risk of contact with the microbes causing these diseases.
The obligatory vaccinations against pneumococci concern children from two months to the age of 5 years belonging to high risk groups, among others after an injury, with a defect of the central nervous system, and with various chronic diseases. The vaccination is refunded also for children from two months to 1 year of age who were born before the 37th week of pregnancy or their weight after birth was lower than 2.5 kilograms.
RECOMMENDED VACCINATIONS (NOT FINANCED WITH PUBLIC FUNDS)
The vaccination programme also includes recommended vaccinations which enable a more comprehensive protection against communicable diseases, but due to limited budgetary funds are not provided free of charge to all patients.
This group includes vaccinations preventing such diseases as rotavirus infections, B type viral hepatitis in groups not covered by obligatory vaccinations, A type viral hepatitis, influenza, tick-borne encephalitis, chickenpox, pneumococcal infections, meningococci and HPV infections.
Recommended vaccinations are increasingly often being financed by local government bodies, which within health and prevention programmes provide funds for the vaccinations of particular groups, e.g. influenza vaccinations of people above 65 years of age.
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