Late Immunization Puts Low-Birth-Weight Babies At Risk.(Brief Article)

2001 JUN 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

Very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants are likely to get routine childhood immunizations months later than normal-birth-weight (NBW) children, new research shows.

The study was the first of its kind to look at the timing of immunizations in VLBW children nationally. It found that a delay existed at 12 months of age and was still present even at 36 months of age.

The lack of immunizations places children at particular risk for pertussis, or whooping cough. Children under 12 months of age who develop whooping cough often require hospitalization in an intensive-care unit and occasionally die of that illness.

Many primary-care physicians, and sometimes families, postpone the immunizations fearing that the vaccines are too dangerous for VLBW babies because the infants often have complex medical problems, said Diane Langkamp, assistant professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University, who led the study. "But the risks of pertussis are actually much greater than the risks posed by the immunizations," Langkamp said.

"Low-birth-weight babies and very-low-birth-weight babies should be immunized on the same schedule as normal-birth-weight babies. There is no reason to delay their immunizations even if they're on oxygen or an apnea monitor."

VLBW babies were those less than three-and-a-half pounds at birth; LBW babies were those between three-and-a-half and five-and-a-half pounds; and NBW were those greater than five-and-a-half pounds.