Praktické lekárnictvo 4/2021

Hexavalent vaccines as a part of compulsory childhood vaccination

Being vaccinated is one of the most effective method of the disease prevention. Thanks to vaccination, many disease cases have declined or even the diseases which people suffered from in the past and resulted in death have been completely eradicated. By the mass vaccination against chickenpox, the disease was worldwide eradicated. Serious diseases resulting in mortality are also diphthia, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b infections. According to the WHO, there are 1.2 million death cases a year associated with these diseases. Vaccination is providing the best protection against these diseases. Vaccination against these diseases is nowadays a part of mandatory childhood vaccination. There are two registered hexavalent vaccines in Slovakia from GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur. The article is providing information about the development, basic characteristics and comparison of hexavalent vaccines, and co-administration with other vaccines.

Keywords: vaccination, children, hexavalent vaccines, characteristics, meaning