Infanrix Hexa and Vaxelis Short Course (6 in 1)

Description

This is part of the ‘Health Academy Short Course’ series and provides clinicians with specific information related to the Infanrix Hexa and Vaxelis (6 in 1) vaccines.

This course is suitable for all Registered Healthcare Professionals, including Nurses, Pharmacists and GPs that administer this vaccine in practice.

This ‘Short Course’ will take approximately 1.5 hours to complete.

The course will cover key details of the vaccine and the diseases that it protects against.

Infanrix Hexa and Vaxelis are vaccines used to protect against six diseases:

• Diphtheria: a serious bacterial infection that mainly affects the airways and sometimes the skin.
The airways become swollen causing serious breathing problems and sometimes suffocation. The
bacteria also release a poison. This can cause nerve damage, heart problems, and even death.

• Tetanus: tetanus bacteria enter the body through cuts, scratches or wounds in the skin. Wounds that
are more likely to get tetanus infection are burns, fractures, deep wounds or wounds that have soil,
dust, horse manure or wood splinters in them. The bacteria release a poison. This can cause muscle
stiffness, painful muscle spasms, fits and even death. The muscle spasms can be strong enough to
cause bone fractures of the spine.

• Whooping cough (Pertussis): a highly infectious illness that affects the airways. It causes severe
coughing that may lead to problems with breathing. The coughing often has a “whooping” sound.
The cough may last for one to two months or longer. Whooping cough can also cause ear infections,
chest infections (bronchitis) which may last a long time, lung infections (pneumonia), fits, brain
damage and even death.

• Hepatitis B: is caused by the hepatitis B virus. It makes the liver swollen. The virus is found in
body fluids such as in the vagina, blood, semen or spit (saliva) of infected people.

• Polio: a viral infection. Polio is often only a mild illness. However, sometimes it can be very serious
and cause permanent damage or even death. Polio can make the muscles unable to move (paralysis).
This includes the muscles needed for breathing and walking. The arms or legs affected by the
disease may be painfully twisted (deformed).

• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib): can cause brain swelling (inflammation). This can lead to
serious problems such as mental slowness (retardation), cerebral palsy, deafness, epilepsy or partial
blindness. It can also cause swelling of the throat. This can cause death by suffocation. Less
commonly, the bacteria can also infect the blood, heart, lungs, bones, joints, and tissues of the eyes
and mouth.